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Accessibility Statement


This accessibility statement applies to Historical Planning Decisions (historicalplanning.braintree.gov.uk).

Braintree District Council run this website. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • only use a keyboard to navigate most of our website
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader. This includes the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible our website is

We have designed and built our website to meet the Web Content Access guidelines 2.1 AA standard (WCAG).

We have reviewed the content on our website to make sure it is as clear and simple as possible (WCAG 3.1.5).

We will continue to review and update our content to make sure that it is:

  • in plain English
  • jargon free
  • has a year nine reading level

The colour contrast (WCAG 1.4.1) of our site meets AA standard for:

  • buttons
  • images

Feedback and contact information

You should contact us if you need information on our website in different formats such as:

  • accessible PDF
  • large print
  • audio recording
  • braille

So that we give you a quick response, tell us:

  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your name and email address
  • the format you need the information in

We will reply to your enquiry within one working day.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of our website.

You should contact us if you find any issues we haven't listed on this page or think we're not meeting the standard.

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us about an issue and you're not happy with our response, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) enforces the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Our offices are open Monday to Friday between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.

By phone: 01376 552525

In person: You can visit us at Causeway House during our opening hours. We have audio induction loops at our service desk

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Braintree District Council is committed to making our website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Our website is partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

We know some parts of this website are not yet AA accessible:

  • some pages are not written in plain English. This doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.5 (reading level)
  • some documents are not written in plain English. This doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.5 (reading level)
  • many of our pdf downloads do not work through a keyboard interface. This doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard interface)
  • our plotting sheet maps do not work through a keyboard interface. This doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard interface)

We are working to fix these and any other accessibility issues. We will make our website fully compliant by January 2021.

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

PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018

We do not have to make PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 accessible, if:

  • they're not essential to providing our services
  • a member of the public has published them (for example planning documents)
  • another organisation has published them (for example another local authority)

PDFs and other documents published after 23 September 2018

We do not have to make PDFs or other documents published after 23 September 2018 accessible, if:

  • a member of the public has published them (for example planning documents)
  • another organisation has published them (for example another local authority)

Live video

We are not planning to add captions to live video streams. Live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Interactive maps

Interactive maps are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We have rebuilt our website on an accessible platform.

We have identified the areas that do not meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standard and developed a plan to address these issues.

Content that isn't in plain English

When we built our website, we used a detailed guide to write our content to a year nine reading level.

We have created a register of the pages and documents that are do not meet this standard.

We are working through these pages and documents to meet the standard.

We aim to complete this work by January 2021.

All new pages and documents we publish on our site will have a year nine reading level or lower.

We will only write pages and documents above this reading level if there is a legal need to do so.