Coronavirus (COVID-19) - guidance and support Brexit - check what you need to do Home About the council Accessibility statement This accessibility statement applies to Kent.gov.uk, run by Kent County Council. The content on this website is designed for everyone to find, read, and understand. It is compatible with assistive technologies and developed to meet the accessibility standards outlined in this statement. View the site your way There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively. AbilityNet provide advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. Feedback and contact information Please contact us if you have an accessibility query including: if you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website if you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement if you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made. When you contact us there is a process in place that will acknowledge your contact, tell you who is dealing with it and give you a timescale by which you can expect a reply. Alternative formats If you need information in an alternative format, such as braille or a language other than English: Email: alternativeformats@kent.gov.uk Call: 03000 421 553. An English-speaker will take details of what you need and arrange a translation or interpreting service for you. You may need an English-speaking friend or a family member to help you with this. We may not be able to meet your requirements immediately, but we will try to provide an interpreter (or translation service) to help you as quickly as possible. Complaints process If you have reported a problem with our website or asked for an alternative format, but you are not happy with our response, you can use our complaints process to register your difficulty. This helps us improve our processes. 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). Technical information about this website’s accessibility Kent County Council is committed to making this 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 (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. Non-accessible content We formally test the accessibility of key user journeys that represent the breadth of content across our website on a regular basis against WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Some parts of the website may not work for everyone. Below are known issues that we either need to fix, cannot fix, or do not need to fix right now. If you find something that does not work that we missed, remember to contact us. Website wide issues Text within images Some images contain text which cannot be read by assistive technology, such as screen readers. Although any relevant text should be included within the image’s alt-text, which is visible to assistive technologies, we recognise some users may need to manipulate the visual text rather than rely on alt-text. Also, branded text such as logos, slogans or other marketing messages, may not be included in the alt-text if they are not relevant to what the image is conveying. Images that do not contain sufficiently descriptive alt-text are not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.1.1, and WCAG guideline 1.3.3. Image which contain non-accessible text are not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.1.1. We will correct insufficient alt-text over time as we review each page and we are reviewing how to to best display text within images. Images with insufficient colour contrast Some images contain text that does not meet minimum colour contrast requirements. Images with insufficient colour contrast are not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.3. We will correct the contrast on these images over time as we review each page. Links with insufficient colour contrast When viewing on a device 320 pixels wide, link text on our Twitter widget does not meet minimum colour contrast requirements. This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.3 and WCAG guideline 1.4.10. We are working to correct this issue. Links indistinguishable from text On some pages links may not be underlined and only identifiable by colour: Users with visual impairments cannot see these links. This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.1. We will correct these links over time as we review each page. Search box button When our website is viewed with CSS disabled, a button labelled ‘Open search box’ appears within the header of each page but does not offer any function. This function is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.2, and WCAG guideline 2.4.4. We've investigated ways of resolving this but couldn't find an acceptable solution that works well in all circumstances. We believe that our current approach is the best one overall. Image backgrounds Images with text may be hard to see or understand, due to the colour contrast being affected when CSS is disabled. Images with insufficient colour contrast are not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.3. We will correct the contrast on these images over time as we review each page. Empty box We use Hotjar, a third party survey platform, to collect feedback from our users. When CSS is disabled, the Hotjar integration appears as an empty box and offers no function. This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.2, and WCAG guideline 2.4.4. We will work with Hotjar to fix this. Content specific issues Budget book Our budget book (PDF, 3.3 MB) contains a number of accessibility issues that we are actively exploring fixes for. We will ensure that future versions of the budget book are accessible. Image sliders You cannot use the 'previous slide' and 'next slide' controls on our image sliders using a keyboard, or pause automatic image scrolling. This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 2.2.2. This is a compromise intended to improve the experience for visually impaired screen reader users, who would otherwise be presented with controls affecting decorative images, which can't be accessed using a screen reader. Image sliders are found on our country parks pages, such as Shorne Woods Country Park. Search results Two search bars appear on our search results page. This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.2. The functionality is intended to improve the usability of the search page, by adding a search box containing the search terms closer to the search results. This helps to confirm the search terms used, and facilitates further searches. We have decided not to remove the search bar in the site header to maintain a consistent and predictable structure. Documents designed for printing Some documents on our site are not designed for reading online, for example; posters, leaflets or digital image files. These documents may not be accessible. We will offer a text-alternative for these documents, identify them as printable documents, and offer users an alternative format if requested. Documents granted exemptions In some circumstances, we have published documents that do not fully meet the accessibility requirements. You can request an alternative format. These documents and the justification for why they have been published is listed below. We are exploring how to fix each document. Document Location Date exemption granted Reason for exemption Written statement of action documents Ofsted and CQC Inspections September 28 2020 As part of our statutory duties, these documents must be available to the public, and we are not allowed to make any changes to them now they have been returned to the Department for Education. Land deposit registers Protect land against new rights of way and village greens October 6 2020 These documents contain an original application produced entirely by a third party, which is out of our control. Autism and ADHD handbook Information for families about autism and ADHD January 8 2021 This PDF has been made as accessible as possible. However, some issues may remain that cannot be fixed due to copyright restrictions. Kent Test familiarisation paper Kent Test January 20 2021 This document explains the Kent Test papers for children who will take them, and parts of it will not be fully accessible to users of some assistive technologies. Any child with a severe visual impairment who cannot access test papers can instead be assessed by a head-teacher panel, which will look at their classwork and academic achievement. SEND special provision plan SEND strategy January 22 2021 This document is a template issued by the Department for Education that we cannot change. ISO 14001 certificate ISO 14001 April 27 2021 We are provided this certificate by the British Standards Institution and are legally obliged to present it on our website. Written Statement of Action - response letter Ofsted and CQC inspection May 21 2021 We are required by law to publish this letter, which is sent to us by Ofsted. School admission documents Admissions criteria consultation 2020/21 Admissions criteria primary 2020/21 Admissions criteria secondary 2020/21 Admissions criteria consultation 2021/22 Admissions criteria primary 2021/22 Admissions criteria secondary 2021/22 Admissions criteria consultation 2022/23 Admissions criteria primary 2022/23 Admissions criteria secondary 2022/23 Admissions criteria consultation 2023/24 October 14 2021 We are legally required to offer these documents on our site, but each document is owned by their respective school. Platform specific issues Forms We use GovService, a third party platform, to create and host forms. GovService is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard due to the non-compliances listed on our GovService accessibility statement. Feedback We use GovMetric, a third party platform, to collect user feedback. GovMetric is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard due to the non-compliances listed on our GovMetric accessibility statement. Local Kent Directory We use Open Objects, a third party platform, to host the Local Kent Directory. Open Objects is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard due to the non-compliances listed on our Open Objects accessibility statement. Searchable school database We commission Cantium Solutions, a third party organisation, to host and maintain the Kent searchable school database. The searchable school database is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard due to the non-compliances listed on our searchable school database accessibility statement. Disproportionate burden Not applicable. Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations This section covers issues that we do not need to fix right now. The law calls these exemptions. PDFs and documents Some of our PDFs that are not essential to providing our services were published before 23 September 2018. Any new PDFs or documents we publish will meet accessibility standards. Some closed consultations on our consultation directory may contain PDFs and other documents that may not be fully accessible. When we identify a document that does not meet accessibility guidelines, we will offer a clearly labelled accessible version. If you identify a document that is not accessible, or you need information in an alternative format such as braille or a language other than English, please contact our alternative formats team. Video Video content embedded on our website before August 2019 may not meet accessibility standards: They may not feature subtitles, audio-description or offer a written transcript. Any video added to our site since August 2019 meets accessibility regulations. We use YouTube and Vimeo to embed videos onto our webpages. We are not responsible for the accessibility of the YouTube or Vimeo platforms. Maps Our website uses online maps. Where there is a map, the information being displayed is provided in an alternative format on the same web page. Third party content Our website contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we endeavour to work with the third party to improve its accessibility. This may include: links to non-KCC websites content/functionality on our website content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites. Read our third party accessibility statements. Preparation of this accessibility statement This statement was prepared on 5 June 2019. It was last reviewed on 16 November 2021. This website was last tested on 7 January 2021. The test was carried out by Kent County Council. Give website feedback Contact us About the website Privacy statement Cookies Accessibility statement Site map © 2021 Kent County Council KCC on Twitter KCC on Facebook KCC on YouTube KCC mailing list