Accessibility Statement
Lewes Town Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This accessibility statement applies to www.lewes-tc.gov.uk
Compliance status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Some pages may contain content and / or attachments which are not currently compliant, where this is the case we will endeavour, on request, to obtain an accessible copy from the original source or to convey the information contained in the document in an accessible way:
- Videos
- Content produced by third parties – not all documents on this website are created by us.
- Content using third party software – for instance, there’s a limit to how far you can magnify the map on our ‘Contact us’ page, which is provided by a third party (Google)
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
- email [email protected]
- call 01273 471 469
- write to us or visit us at: Town Hall, High Street, Lewes BN7 1RS
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days. If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions using the details above.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
We will do all we can to identify content that is non-compliant.
Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2025. When we publish new content we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix finance documents which were published prior to 23 September 2018.
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2025, where possible, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
Any new PDFs or Word documents created by us will meet accessibility standards.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We plan to improve accessibility on this website by addressing non-compliance issues (where possible) by September 2025.
We will provide staff training to ensure that all new content added meets accessibility criteria.
We also run quarterly reports to identify and address accessibility issues.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 11 December 2024. The statement was last reviewed on 11 December 2024 The website’s pages were reviewed by our provider Aubergine262.
The website was last reviewed in February 2025.
Feedback and contact information
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:
Veronique Poutrel, Town Clerk
Lewes Town Council
Town Hall
High Street
Lewes
BN7 1RS
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’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).