Accessibility

Contents

Accessibility statement for The Royal Borough of Greenwich

This accessibility statement applies to: 

This does not include some third-party sites, such as our planning portal or our payments section.

This website is run by The Royal Borough of Greenwich. 

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  1. Some of the PDFs on this website do not have titles that describe the topic or purpose of the page.
  2. Some pages have headings that have not been formatted correctly.
  3. If you change the size of the font on some of our pages, it changes the layout of the page and makes it difficult or impossible to read the text.
  4. Some of the links on the site don’t have text that explains what the links are or what you will see if you click on them.
  5. Some of our maps and images rely on visual information and do not have text to explain that information.
  6. There are some ‘empty links’ on the website; for example, some links have no text describing what those links are.
  7. Some videos rely on visual information and do not have audio descriptions of that information, or of what the videos contain.
  8. Some pop-up modals are not announced by screen readers when they appear.
  9. Some text and links in ‘Fix my street’ are hard to read because the colours of text and background do not provide enough contrast.
  10. Issue with the online Council Tax service:
    • This section of the website contains two webforms: to change your Direct Debit arrangement or to set up a new Direct Debit arrangement once you have logged into your Council Tax online account. We ask users to provide their name and email address when they fill in these webforms, when they should be able to opt to use the details they have already provided to create their account.
  11. There are several problems with the Committees section of the site:
    • Some of the headings are not formatted correctly. This makes it hard for some people to navigate this section if they are using assistive technology.
    • There are some empty headings across the section - this means that assistive technology will identify the presence of a heading but that heading will be empty.
    • Some of the forms have questions and text boxes without descriptive information or correct formatting, which makes it hard for some people to fill them in.
    • Some of the pages are hard to navigate if people use a keyboard instead of a mouse.
    • Some of the tables are not formatted correctly. This makes it hard for people using assistive technology to understand the information contained within them.
    • Some interactive parts of the section, such as buttons, have not been built correctly and cause problems for some assistive technology.
    • Some interactive parts of this section have different names, depending on whether you are sighted or visually-impaired. This means people with visual impairments may struggle to ask for help from sighted people with these parts of the section,
    • Some unique blocks of content on the pages have duplicate labels or IDs. This makes it hard for people using assistive technology to tell, for example, which heading belongs to which paragraph.
    • There is some incorrect code across some parts of this section. This means people using assistive technology may struggle to navigate them because this technology relies on website code.
    • It is not always clear when a link is in focus when using a keyboard or assistive technology to navigate. This means people with visual impairments may struggle to click or open the links they want.
    • If you change the size of the font on some of the pages, it changes the layout of the pages and makes it difficult or impossible to read the text.
  12. There are several problems with the Greenwich Housing Online Service:
    • Some aspects of the site have missing headings on the section titles, pages and within tables. This means that not all content is clearly distinguishable to screen readers and those navigating the site with assistive technology.
    • Not all images have the appropriate alt text, and not all text is being announced by screen readers which may mean key information may be missed when using assistive technology.
    • Page language is inconsistently marked up across the site which may impact language interpretation with assistive technology and translation. 

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page, think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, or need information on this website in a different format like plain text or large print, email us at digital-accessibility@royalgreenwich.gov.uk.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’).

If you make an accessibility complaint to us and you are not happy with how we respond to you, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content 

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images on this website contain text

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).

When we publish new content, we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Some PDFs do not have clear titles

Some PDFs on the website have unclear or generic titles. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).

Some pages contain empty links

Some of our links do not have any context; for example, some icons used to illustrate information have been designed as links but do not have text alternatives. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).

Some text cannot be resized properly

Some parts of the site have text that overlaps with itself and other content on the page when you zoom in to make it bigger. This means some people with visual impairments will struggle to read the information on the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text).

Some links do not have descriptive titles

Some links do not have text describing what those links are and where you will go if you click them. Some people using assistive technology may find the section hard to navigate. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).

Some videos do not have audio descriptions

Some videos rely on visual information and do not have audio descriptions of that information, or of what the videos contain. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)) and 1.2.5 (Audio Description (Prerecorded)).

Some ARIA attributes are broken or incorrectly referenced

Some page elements contain ARIA attributes, such as aria-labelledby or aria-describedby, that point to elements which do not exist or are coded incorrectly. This means that assistive technologies cannot programmatically determine the relationships or descriptions as intended. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).

Issue with the online Council Tax section

This section of the website contains two webforms: to change your Direct Debit arrangement or to set up a new Direct Debit arrangement once you have logged into your Council Tax online account. We ask users to provide their name and email address when they fill in these webforms, when they should be able to opt to use the details they have already provided to create their account. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.3.7 (Redundant Entry).

Issues with the Fix My Street section

This section of the website fails several WCAG success criteria. Because we did not build this section ourselves we have asked our supplier to investigate all of these issues for us.

  1. Some links are hard to read because there is a background colour behind them. This fails WCAG 2.2  success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).
  2. Some parts of the site contain text and background colours which do not contrast very well. This means some of the text is hard to read as the colour behind it is too similar to the text colour. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)) and 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast).

Several issues with the Committees section

  1. Some of the pages have an incorrect heading structure. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
  2. There are some empty headings across the section. This means that there is code in the pages that alerts assistive technology to the presence of a heading despite there being no heading content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
  3. Some of the forms have no clear instructions or labels, which makes it hard for some people to fill them in. There are also some incorrectly-used fieldsets. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  4. Some of the pages are hard to navigate if people use a keyboard instead of a mouse. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard) and 1.4.13 (Content on Hover or Focus).
  5. Some of the tables are incorrectly formatted. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  6. Some 'elements' across this section, such as buttons, have been built in a non-standard way. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  7. Some interactive parts of this section have different names or labels, depending on whether you are sighted or visually-impaired. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).
  8. Some separate and unique parts of the section have duplicate labels or IDs. This fails WCAG 2.2 success critierion 4.1.1 (Parsing).
  9. There are some errors in the code across some parts of this section. This means assistive technology may encounter problems while navigating them because this technology relies on website code. This fails WCAG 2.2 success critieria 4.1.1 (Parsing) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  10. It is not always clear when a link is in focus when using a keyboard or assistive technology to navigate. Links should change colour when they are in focus, or be obvious in some other way, but this is not the case for some of them in this section. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
  11. Some parts of the section have text that overlaps with itself and other content on the page when you zoom in to make it bigger. This means some people with visual impairments will struggle to read the information on the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text).

Issues with the Greenwich Housing Online Service

As we only have partial control over this section, we have asked our supplier to investigate and resolve these issues for us.

  1. There are some empty headings across the section, pages and within tables. This means that there is code in the pages that alerts assistive technology to the presence of a heading despite there being no heading content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
  2. There are some issues with page structure across the section which means some screen readers read out '0%' with no context or some content is skipped. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
  3. Page language is inconsistently marked up on the website. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.1.1 (Language of Page).
  4. Some of the forms are missing labels. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).
  5. Some pages are missing descriptive titles. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
  6. Some text is not announced as expected when using a screen reader and some images do not have the appropriate alt text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.3.1 (Error Identification)
  7. On some browsers pop-ups are not opened or read by screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 4.1.3 (Status Message)
  8. It is not possible to change the colour contrast settings on the browser. This means that people cannot adapt the presentation to suit their needs while preserving the original meaning of the page. This fails WCAG 2.2. success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and relationships)
  9. Not all text fits on button for 'Create an account - No prior housing contact'. This means that users may not understand what input they are selecting. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions)
  10. On some pages, the whole page gets read from selecting the page, without swiping through. For those using screen readers and assistive technology this means that they may not understand all components on the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 4.1.2 (Name, role, value)
  11. Sometimes the focus is not appropriately tagged, for example menu items is below the text highlighting a blank area. This means those who are using a visual indicator for screen readers cannot understand what area they've selected and whether there's any hidden text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.5.3 (label in name).

Content that’s not within scope of the accessibility regulations

Maps

Our website includes maps. Where possible, we have provided an accessible alternative format, such as lists, links or pages with location details. Some maps are non-navigational and therefore exempt from the accessibility regulations. We will continue to review how maps are presented and accessed.

PDF documents

Some of our older PDFs are not accessible and fail a few different WCAG success criteria. The main failure is WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content). The accessibility rules do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

If you need help with any of our maps or PDFs, please email contact-centre@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or call 020 8921 5015.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We commissioned an impartial, external company to audit core journeys on our site and give us their views in June 2024. Based on their feedback we have fixed many accessibility problems, and are working to fix all the outstanding ones.

We have built the main part of the website on a new publishing platform called LocalGov Drupal.  LocalGov Drupal is designed to be accessible and is built and maintained by a community of digital experts from local councils and their suppliers, so it is continuously reviewed and improved. All new features and designs on the website are tested for accessibility.

A few parts of the site are still on our old platform, which is where many of the accessibility issues are found. We aim to move all the remaining content onto Local Gov Drupal in 2026.

We plan to have another accessibility audit commissioned to review our website again early in 2026. After this audit we will review the results and update this accessibility statement again.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 21 June 2022. It was last reviewed on 24 November 2025.

This website was last tested on 19 June 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by Shaw Trust Accessibility Services.

The Shaw Trust Digital Assessment and Accreditation process is rigorous. Over 60 hours of accessibility testing by users with a disability goes into each and every accreditation. This is in addition to a stringent technical assessment by their digital auditors. All assessments are carried out in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 A and AA criteria.

We decided on a sample of pages to test based on journeys through the website that have the most traffic, as well as prioritising content that is most likely to be used by users who have disabilities.