About this website

Last reviewed: August 2026

This assessment relates to:

• carrying out a full manual accessibility review of every webpage, document and digital asset on the website
• retrospectively reviewing and remediating all historic documents published on the website

Auditing the website

We have assessed whether carrying out a full manual accessibility review of every webpage, document and digital asset on this website would be proportionate within the meaning of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website contains a large volume of content, including webpages, forms, documents and media published over many years. Undertaking a detailed manual review of every item would require a significant commitment of staff time and resources. This would reduce our ability to maintain essential digital services, respond to user needs and deliver accessibility improvements that provide the greatest benefit to users.

In reaching this assessment, we considered:

• the size and complexity of the website
• the resources available to us
• the frequency and importance of different types of content
• the likely benefit to disabled users
• the need to prioritise improvements that have the greatest impact on access to council services

In August 2026 we carried out an internal accessibility audit of representative page types and key user journeys across the website. This included the homepage, service pages, search functionality, forms, school pages, pages containing tables and maps and a sample of downloadable content.

The audit combined automated accessibility testing with manual accessibility checks and identified a number of issues, which have been incorporated into our ongoing accessibility improvements.

We have therefore concluded that conducting a full manual accessibility review of every individual webpage and document would constitute a disproportionate burden. Instead we will continue to:

• carry out regular accessibility audits and reviews
• prioritise high-demand and business-critical content
• address issues identified through user feedback and external monitoring
• fix issues identified through our accessibility testing programme
• ensure accessibility is considered when publishing new content and developing new services

We believe this approach represents the most effective use of public resources while delivering the greatest accessibility benefit to users.

Documents

We recognise that documents can present accessibility barriers for some users.

The website contains a large number of documents published over many years. Reviewing, remediating and maintaining every document individually would require significant resources and would limit our ability to focus on the content and services most used by the public.

We have assessed that retrospectively reviewing and remediating every document would constitute a disproportionate burden. Instead, we prioritise:

• documents required to access council services
• frequently accessed documents
• documents identified through user feedback
• documents that present a significant accessibility barrier

Where appropriate, we will provide accessible alternatives on request and will aim to ensure newly published documents meet accessibility requirements wherever possible.

We will continue to reduce reliance on downloadable documents where appropriate and publish information directly in accessible HTML webpages.

Review of this assessment

This assessment will be reviewed annually, or sooner if there are significant changes to the website, our digital services or relevant accessibility requirements.