Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to:

This website is run by East Lothian Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website. We have made Recite Me software available from our main website using the ‘Speak/Translate button’. For example, this means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% 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)

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.

How accessible our main website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible
  • some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
  • some pages have poor colour contrast
  • some tables do not have row headers
  • some heading elements are not consistent
  • some images do not have good alternative text
  • some links on our news pages and in our footer are only distinguished by colour

Myeastlothian customer portal 

Myeastlothian is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

  • JAWS 14+ with Internet Explorer 11
  • NVDA with Firefox
  • ZoomText 10.x with Internet Explorer
  • Dragon naturally speaking 12.x with IE
  • VoiceOver with Safari on iPhone
  • TalkBack on Android
  • Zoom with Safari on iPad

The Local Development Plan 2 StoryMap website 

The storymap uses the ArcGIS Online which has been tested and meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA. You can read the accessibility conformance report on the ArcGIS website.

If you do experience any accessibility issues when using this StoryMap email us: webteam@eastlothian.gov.uk

Library catalogue

Our library catalogue: https://eastlothian.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/WPAC/HOME uses the Civica Library platform which has been tested and meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA. 

If you do experience any accessibility issues when using the library catalogue email us: webteam@eastlothian.gov.uk

Recycle for East Lothian website

The Recycle for East Lothian website was published before 2018 and we will address any accessibility issues in any future version of the site. If you experience any accessibility issues when using the site email us: webteam@eastlothian.gov.uk

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille – contact us and tell us:

  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your name and email address
  • the format you need, for example, audio CD, braille, BSL or large print, accessible PDF

You can contact us by email: customerservices@eastlothian.gov.uk, or call: 01620 827 827

We will get back to you within 10 days.

Support for British Sign Language (BSL) users

BSL users can contact us using the BSL interpreting service free of charge. Log on at ContactSCOTLAND-BSL or use the app. 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us by email: webteam@eastlothian.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’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

If you cannot view the maps on our ‘Council area offices’ pages, contact us for directions: 

email: customerservices@eastlothian.gov.uk

call: 01620 827 827

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

East Lothian 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
  1. The A-Z navigation has a search field that does not identify its purpose programmatically. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose). We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
  2. Some links are on our news pages and in our footer are only distinguished by colour. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum). We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
  3. Some text on our site does not have sufficient contrast or very high contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.1 (Use of Colour) and 1.4.6 (Contrast (Enhanced)). We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
  4. We have some pages with duplicate titles. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2. (Page Titled) We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
  5. We have some pages where the same link text is used for different destinations. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)). We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
  6. Some headings and labels have been identified as not being descriptive. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels). We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
  7. Some controls do not appearance when selected. This fails This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible). We intend to fix this in the next iteration of our website. 
Disproportionate burden

The PDF files of committee papers published for each council meeting are not fully accessible and we have assessed that to make these files fully accessible now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents which are essential to providing our services may not be accessible. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. We intend to fix this, or replace them with accessible HTML pages, in the next iteration of our website. 

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

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

PDFs and other documents

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.

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.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Along with fixing technical accessibility issues, we're making sure our content is accessible too. We have provided training for our web content editors and continue to provide a rolling programme of training for them. We have also published information and resources for all staff in the workforce to increase knowledge and skills throughout the organisation.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 22 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 8 March 2024.

This website was last tested on 15 February 2022. The test was carried out by ourselves using Silktide accessibility test data provided via Socitm on a sample of 125 of our webpages.

Accessibility statements for our other websites

Accessibility statement for https://eastlocm.itsvc.co.uk