Manchester City Council

Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the website www.manchester.gov.uk, which is managed by Manchester City Council.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use the site, so have designed it to let you edit your preferred settings, with options to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts

  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen

  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard

  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software

  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

See how you can adapt the website to meet your needs.

AbilityNet can help you to make your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Reachdeck (Browselaoud)

We use Reachdeck (Browsealoud) to provide speech, reading and translation support to our website. It works by reading our website content out loud in a natural sounding voice. It can translate our web pages into 99 languages, and reads the content aloud in 40 of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. Reachdeck (Browsealoud) can also:

  • magnify text on-screen to help users with visual impairments

  • convert text to audio files using an MP3 generator for offline listening

  • block on-screen clutter using a screen mask, to let readers focus on the text being read

  • read PDF documents aloud

Accessibility issues with Reachdeck (Browsealoud)

Issues at 200% and 400% zoom:

  • When you have both the translate page and MP3 Maker options on, you cannot scroll down far enough to see the generate button.

  • On the settings page, some drop down fields are partially cut off.

  • When choosing the simplify option, the options that appear at the top of the screen overlap.

  • When choosing an option that opens information below the toolbar (such as the question mark icon or picture dictionary) the toolbar covers the entire page and you cannot access the options to close it again.

How accessible this website is

We know that some elements of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text

  • many older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

  • some of our online forms may be difficult to navigate using just a keyboard

  • Maps (and the information displayed on them) are not picked up in full by assistive technology. For example, key elements such as magnification and points of interest.

Feedback and contact information

If you would like to comment on the accessibility of this website, or request any of the information in a different format, such as an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please email webfeedback@manchester.gov.uk.

We'll get back to you within 14 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you have any problems that aren't already mentioned, or you think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, email us at webfeedback@manchester.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've made a formal complaint to us about our website's accessibility, and aren't happy with our response, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people with hearing impairment or speech impediment. The number is 0161 234 3760.

If you're visiting us to make an enquiry, pay a bill or attend an interview or a meeting, please let the person you're meeting know if you need to use an audio induction loop. Many of our facilities have them, at the main entrance or reception area, or inside some of the offices and meeting rooms.

British Sign Language users can call us using SignVideo Web Access, an online sign language interpreting service, from their own home for free.

Alternatively, find out how to arrange an interpreter or translation for your visit.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Manchester City Council 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

Older images

  • Images uploaded to the site before 2018 may not have alt tags or captions. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

  • We will correct insufficient or missing alt-text over time as we review sections of the site. When we publish new content, we'll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Older downloads / PDFs

  • Downloads and PDFs uploaded to the site before 2018 may not be accessible. We will correct them over time as we review sections of the site and publish new content.

Select link text

  • Some pages may use the same link text more than once, but each goes to a different URL. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

  • We will fix any link or text we find that fails this criterion.

Final payment screens

  • The Civica payment page is not responsive on mobile devices.

  • This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.8 (Visual Presentation).

  • We are working alongside external software developers to address this issue. Users who experience issues with forms can find the specific service contact email listed on the page to request offline versions of some forms.

Forms

  • There is a 20 minute limit to complete a form but no warning when the page is about to expire, and no way to extend the time limit.

  • This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable Level A)

This is a technical limitation of our website. We will look into fixing this at the next contract renewal.

Spacing of some elements

  • On some pages, we have what we call 'supplemental information'. These are a list of links to related pages you may also find useful. The site presents this information in a way that the links are too close together. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.8 (Target Size Minimum Level AA).
  • We will be contacting our web developers Jadu to address this issue.

Cookiebot

  • At 400% zoom, focus states are imperceptible on the banner.

  • In the 'Details' section, there are many links with the same link text of 'Learn more about this provider' (for example, in the accordion element for 'Necessary').

  • At 200% and 400% zoom on the Privacy notice and cookie policy page, the text in the table headers is partially cut off on each table. This also happens in mobile view (320 x 256 pixels).

  • On the Privacy notice and cookie policy page, some elements have been created using non-standard methods which cannot be parsed by some technologies. This might cause some assistive technology to show errors when accessing the page.

We have spoken to Cookiebot about these issues, but they have no plans to fix them. Therefore, we are looking for an alternate supplier which meets WCAG 2.2 AA legislation.

Other sites

We link to different websites to provide some of our services. Some are styled to look similar to www.manchester.gov.uk. However, they are all separate platforms. We will advise the teams who own these websites to ensure any accessibility issues are addressed.

Other websites include:

  • Councillors, minutes and papers on modern.gov.uk.

  • Manchester Open Data

  • Planning portal

    • Documents that are supplied by other organisations or members of the public will not be edited to make them accessible.

  • Parent Portal

    • This site is currently under review for a refresh and amend to help the platform reach WCAG2.1AA standards.

    • This site is styled to look like manchester.gov.uk but not actually part of it.

  • Census content on Microsoft Power BI

    • This is a third-party app used to compare census data between years and wards.

    • We've provided accessible summaries of the census data: Census results 2021

  • Intelligence Hub

    • This is a third-party platform containing data about Manchester on a range of topics, including education and crime.

    • Due to the graphical and geographical nature of the data shown, some users may require data in alternative accessible formats. This can be requested by emailing intelligence@manchester.gov.uk.

Disproportionate burden

Read our Disproportionate Burden Assessment

Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing council services. For example, PDFs that give users complex information in a clear format using illustrations, or forms that were published as Word documents. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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 the State of the City Reports from before that time. These are annual reports, used as an archive reference for work conducted in that year. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams, because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. All of our pre-recorded and edited film clips will feature subtitles, captions, and a transcript.

Embedded clips from YouTube

We add subtitles and transcripts to all videos uploaded after September 2018.

Embedded images from Flickr

We have a selection of historical photo albums on the site, some of which are only hosted on the photo-sharing website flickr.com. The code used to embed an image or album can create non-compliant elements.

Maps

Maps and mapping services are exempt as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner. We have implemented this methodology wherever maps are used.

We aim to meet the needs of all visitors to our site, but we don't yet have a way of presenting geographical information (maps and site plans, etc.) in a fully achievable and accessible format. Currently, all accessible map solutions would be impossible to implement for all residents due to both resource and installation issues. As new technologies emerge, we will reevaluate this.

We sometimes use Google Maps on the site. We are aware of some accessibility issues with them: form controls missing accessible names, pins missing alternative text, and some text being clipped when resized.

As these issues lie within Google's coding, we cannot change them. However, we only use Google Maps to provide a visual enhancement of information, and this information is always presented as accessible text descriptions.

If you need help to understand our maps, contact webfeedback@manchester.gov.uk.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15 September 2020. It was last reviewed and updated on 30 May 2024.

This website is regularly scanned for any accessibility issues using SiteImprove. It was last manually tested in January 2024. The test was carried out by staff at Manchester City Council and our supplier, Jadu.

We tested various page types and user journeys. We made sure the most popular pages and tasks were represented, e.g. the main homepage and also the content listed under Council Tax. We complete our accessibility audits by testing the site using tools such as WAVE (to test coding elements), WebAIM contrast checker (to test the contrast levels between colours) and NVDA (to test the screenreader experience). We use Site Improve to monitor for any new issues.