Accessibility statement for CCW

This accessibility statement applies to:

This website is run by CCW. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that 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 is our website?

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

  • some pages and document attachments are not written in plain English (especially when iframes are used). 
  • video streams occasionally miss captions
  • PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Links occasionally open a new tab without sufficient warning
  • navigation on online tools using iframes can be difficult for screen readers
  • alternative text on images is not always compliant

Feedback and Contact Information

If you need information in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, email [email protected].

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 3-5 days.

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, email [email protected].

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

CCW 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 2.1] (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/) AA standard. Please check our issues listed on top for a detailed overview of all major/minor ongoing problems and the ones which are currently being addressed.

http://ccwater.custhelp.com/ and https://www.walkingwithwater.org.uk/ website is fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Missing caption on videos

Not all the content shown on videos is supporting people with hearing impairments because of occasional missing captions. This fails WCAG 1.2.2 (A) – Captions (Prerecorded). 

Navigation on iframes

Occasionally, screen reading navigation is made difficult on iframes. 

Our benefits calculator and search grant tool forms are built and hosted through third-party software and embedded onto our website. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 (A) – Information and Relationships. 

Navigation on forms

The use of reCAPTCHAs on forms to protect against spam is troublesome for people with visual/cognitive impairments. This fails WCAG 2.2.1 (A) – Timing Adjustable. 

Podcasts

There’s no alternative content fruition as transcripts are missing. 

Podcast page is not suited for iPad users. This fails WCAG 1.2.1 (A) – Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) and WCAG 3.2.1 (A) – On Focus. 

Non-descriptive links

Occasionally, links open a new tab without enough warning. This fails WCAG 3.2.1 (A) – On Focus. 

Alternative text on images

Alternative text on decorative images is not necessary, this could make navigation more difficult for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 (A) – Non-text Content. 

PDF documents are currently not accessible 

Currently, most PDF documents are not suited for people in need of assistive technologies. These fail multiple WCAG guidelines such as WCAG 1.1.1 (A) – Non-text Content and WCAG 1.3.1 (A) – Information and Relationships. 

Disproportionate burden

We’ve assessed the cost of converting existing documents to accessible PDFs and we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. This is because the website is managed by one individual, it would take a considerable amount of time and money to fully review and address the accessibility issues.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs, Excel and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents.

Our website contains just under 3000 documents, many are historical 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.

We’ve assessed the cost of converting existing documents to accessible PDFs and we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. This is because the website is managed by one individual, it would take a considerable amount of time and money to fully review and address the accessibility issues.

We are looking to address PDFs that have information for consumers trying to access our services on our website in a more accessible way.

However, if you require an accessible version of any one of our documents please email [email protected] to request it in an accessible format.

Videos

Embedded videos on this website are hosted by YouTube, a 3rd party platform which may or may not be accessible. Videos that have been produced before 23 September 2020 are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We will try to provide captions and audio descriptions on most videos after that date.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to improve accessibility on this website by:

  • fixing outstanding accessibility issues on our website
  • using simple and clear language
  • making pdfs more accessible where possible and/or providing an alternative format

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 27 March 2023. It was last reviewed on 6 April 2023.