
Very difficult	Difficult	Neither easy nor difficult	Easy	Very easy

Accessibility statement

Durham County Council and Go Vocal want everyone who visits our website to be able to access the full range of services available, regardless of their skill or technology.

They are committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to https://letstalkcountydurham.co.uk/.

Conformance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliance(s) and/exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Below is a list of the areas which we have identified as not compliant and the accessibility compliance fails.

lists: a list element containing other elements are ordered incorrectly, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: some links cannot be distinguished from normal text, failing success criterion 1.4.1
links: identical link text is used for different destinations on the site map, failing success criterion 2.4.4
headings: the system only allows 3 levels of heading, meaning that headings below that can not be correctly tagged
screen readers: if you go to the phases section of a project, it de-focuses the screen reader after the next phase button and jumps back to the top
screen readers: when you submit an idea and the form validation fails the screen reader is not told - it appears that the submit button does not work
screen readers: users may experience difficulties when using the search function and the number of search results may not be reported consistently
tables: tables can not be added to the site, meaning tabular data has to be added as images - where this occurs, alt text is provided to explain the table contents
navigation: when there are more links than will fit in the user’s screen resolution, but before the screen is narrow enough to turn the top navigator into a hamburger bar, a button called ‘More’ appears. This does not have extra information for screen readers, and the link text of ‘More’ is meaningless out of context.
the search and notification buttons appear to have no accessible text version
headings: some folders have a heading 2 of ‘Information about this project’ read out before the page’s heading 1. This means the heading structure isn’t correct, and the extra heading 2 appears to be something the system is adding to the page that isn’t needed.

County Durham Plan (Placemaker)

images: some images do not have a correct alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
headings: some headings do not cascade, failing success criterion 1.3.1
headings: there are empty heading tags, failing success criterion 1.3.1
headings: some text is marked as headings and should not be, failing success criterion 1.3.1
lists: some lists are not defined correctly, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: some tables are not defined correctly, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: tables do not have header rows, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: some links are only distinguishable by colour, failing success criterion 1.4.1
colour contrast: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
colour contrast: the background image at the top of the page does not provide sufficient contrast with the foreground text, failing success criterion 1.4.3 and 1.4.6
documents: generated documents are not accessible, failing success criteria 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 2.4.2, 3.1.1
some web pages have no content, or only have placeholder content
some pages have no standard navigation on this page eg footer links

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

maps unless they provide navigation information or core information required for the consultation (this includes maps in documents) in which case, an alterative will be provided

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared in January 2025.

Go Vocal assessed the accessibility of a basic demo site using anysurfer in August 2024.

Durham County Council assesses the code, design and content of a website, application or system for accessibility whenever it undergoes a major modification or every one to two years. We do this internally using a combination of automated and manual checking, and with any testing documentation Go Vocal provides. We report any issues with the system itself to our supplier.

Consultation content is manually checked every time it is updated.

Public user added content is not checked for accessibility.

The statement was last reviewed on 7 May 2026.

Feedback and contact information

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page, think we're not meeting accessibility requirements or have any feedback, please Contact Website Administrator.

If you need information on this website in a different format please see our Communication support page.

Find out how else you can get in touch with us in our Contact the Council section.

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).

Under the Equality Act 2010 we must ensure we do not unlawfully discriminate in our service delivery and make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities where necessary. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility and usability of our site.