We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.
This website endeavours to conform to level Double-A of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user friendly for all people.
This website has been built using code compliant with W3C standards for HTML and CSS. The site displays correctly in current browsers and using standards compliant HTML/CSS code means any future browsers that also comply with these standards will display it correctly.
The information below highlights some of the changes made to improve the accessibility features on the Council's website.
Access keys
Most browsers support access key functionality, which provide access to key parts of the Web site interface. To use access keys follow the following guidelines:
For Windows users, you can press “ALT” plus the listed access key
For Macintosh users, you can press “Control” plus the listed access key
Pressing “Enter” will then take you to the page.
We have included the standard recommended access keys, which include:
- S = Skip Navigation
- 1 = Home
- 2 = Site Map
- 3 = Search
- 4 = A to Z Index
- 5 = Council Services
- 6 = Your Council
- 7 = Contact Us
- 8 = FAQs
- 9 = Accessibility Help
Assistive technology
Users with disabilities use assistive technology to aid with the use of a website and to increase the overall user experience and the ability to complete tasks that would not be achievable otherwise.
As part of the development process this website has been independently assessed by the Shaw Trust.
If you experience any problems using these tools or have any recommendations to improve accessibility using assistive technology please contact us with your feedback and we’ll do our best to make improvements.
Visual design
Colours – We have tried to use colours throughout the Web site that provide maximum contrast between foreground and background items and also various features on the page including headers, body text and hyperlinks.
Images – All interface graphics and images throughout the website have been assigned an Alt-text attribute, which describes the contents or function of the item.
Hyperlinks – We have chosen the standard hyperlink blue colour for all active hyperlink text items, as this is the most accessible and recognisable standard for link items.
CSS – Style-sheets have been used for all visual items and text. This means that you can change the text size form within the browser by selecting “View” and then “Text size”.
Whilst our corporate website strives to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of our corporate website.
We are continually seeking out solutions that will bring all areas of the website up to the same level of overall web accessibility. In the meantime should you experience any difficulty in accessing Stockport Council's corporate website please don’t hesitate to contact Alby Atkinson, Online Communications Manager by email webcontent@stockport.gov.uk or phone 0161 474 2002.