This accessibility statement applies to the lakedistrict.gov.uk website:
This website is run by the Lake District National Park Authority. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the Non-accessible content section of this statement.
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please email hq@lakedistrict.gov.uk, alternatively you can call us on 01539 724555 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, and from 9:00 am - 4.45pm on Fridays.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in seven days.
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us by telephone: 01539 724555, email; hq@lakedistrict.gov.uk or you can submit your comments on our online contact form.
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).
Our main office is at Murley Moss in Kendal. Here are the ways to contact us:
Email hq@lakedistrict.gov.uk, or call us on 01539 724555 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, and from 9:00 am - 4.45 pm on Fridays.
The Lake District National Park Authority is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances and exemptions are listed below.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
FAQ sections on various pages are not accessible to keyboard users. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be looking to re-code our FAQ sections in an accessible format.
At higher magnifications or in mobile view, the navigation menu disappears. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow (AA) and 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (AA). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be re-coding the top navigation area of all pages on the website.
Across the website headings are sometimes not in the right order or are not correctly coded as such which can make navigation more difficult for some users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be re-coding the top navigation area of all pages on the website.
Across the website various images are not always described as well as they could be to give the same context to all users. Sometimes these are decorative images, and sometimes these are important images such as consultation planning diagrams. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A) and 1.4.5 Images of Text (AA). We are doing the following to fix this issue: Producing HTML pages for any new complex image, to convey the same information in a text-based way. Working with staff across the organisation so that no important information is only conveyed by an image.
On several pages such as the homepage or any of the pages in the “Visiting” section, additional navigation links do not reflow well at higher magnification and will overlap with other content. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow (AA). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be re-coding the top navigation area of all pages on the website.
The tab order on pages with the “Visiting” navigation is not always in a logical order which may cause confusion for some users. This fails WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be re-coding the top navigation area of all pages on the website.
Across several pages of the website, ‘tiles’ are used to show images and links to other pages. These sometimes are not described as well as they could be either incorrectly as lists or sometimes such as the Blog tiles, the link purpose is not always clear or is duplicated. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) and 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be re-coding the tiles so they do not appear as lists, and re-coding our Blog tiles so they are one link containing both the image and the text link.
Across the website there are various code errors which can make the site harder to use for people with assistive technologies, cause broken sections of our content or for users to miss out on content. This fails WCAG 4.1.1 Parsing (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will be working through all pages with parsing errors and fixing those errors or re-coding where needed.
Some forms on the website are not built as accessibly as required.
Error messages on some forms are not as descriptive as they could be or are not read out to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 3.3.1 Error identification (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: Contacting our content management system supplier to request a fix for this issue in our next upgrade.
The calendar icons on the planning portal search do not work and are not described for keyboard users. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A) and 2.1.1 Keyboard (A). Users instead have to input dates manually.
The planning portal search form is not usable by screen reader users because the form fields are not correctly labelled and so will not be read out. This fails WCAG 2.5.3 Label in Name (A) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A).
The error messages and suggestions on the planning portal search are not clear or useful in explaining what the error is or which field it is associated with. This fails WCAG 3.3.1 Error Identification (A) and 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (AA).
The page title for the planning portal search is not clear. This fails WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled (A).
The banner image on the planning portal search is also a link which takes users to the Lake District home page. This is not clear. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A) and 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A).
We are doing the following to fix this all of the above issues: We have conducted a disproportionate burden assessment to look at various options for the planning application search tool. We have concluded that the best option is to upgrade the software to the latest version which will be accessible. We have budget in place for this upgrade, and a completion date of April 2025.
The car park status service has a number of code errors that may make it harder to use for certain users. This fails WCAG 4.1.1 Parsing (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will re-code this page so it parses correctly.
Some parts of the car park status page are shown as lists. These may not always read out correctly to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A). We are doing the following to fix this issue: We will re-code this page so that any lists parse correctly.
At this time, we are making a claim of disproportionate burden for our Planning Application Search tool. We have conducted a disproportionate burden assessment to look at various options for the planning application search tool. We have concluded that the best option is to upgrade the software to the latest version which will be accessible. We have budget in place for this upgrade, and a completion date of April 2022.
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services.
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 historical council meeting minute documents published before 23rd September 2018.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We also have some existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the 23rd September 2020. This content is also exempt from the regulations.
Our service includes the use of online maps to show certain geographical information. These are not used for navigational purposes and are exempt under the regulations. If you require the information presented in an online map in a different format, please contact us to discuss reasonable adjustments.
The Lake District National Park Authority is doing the following to improve accessibility:
Undertaking a review of all our published content to identify areas where we can change content from being in PDF or Word documents into HTML pages.
We are organising staff training with All Able Ltd, to help us understand the full spectrum of accessibility requirements, and to train staff in why and how to produce accessible HTML, PDF and Word document content.
We are using an automated testing tool to help us identify areas of our website that do not meet accessibility requirements so that we can fix them.
We will be having annual audits with All Able to help us identify areas of our website that do not meet accessibility requirements so that we can fix them.
This statement was prepared on 20 September 2019. It was last reviewed on 27 July 2021.
This website was last tested on 25 July 2021. The test was carried out by All Able Ltd.
A representative sample of the website was tested along with a sample of documents.
