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Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement

We're committed to making our online services as accessible as possible for all customers. To find out more about how our website meets accessibility guidelines please see:

This statement applies to content published on the www.york.gov.uk/Yorksendlocaloffer domain.

This website is run by York SEND Local Offer.

It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% without problems
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • use most of our online services with screen reader software

Most of our online services work when scripts, applets or other programmatic objects are turned off, or aren't supported by a device. However, your experience using online services without scripts running may degrade.

Our online services are partially compliant with the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, known as 'WCAG 2.1 AA'. Get details of online services which don't meet accessibility standards, and online services exempt from accessibility standards.

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If you need information in a different format email: [email protected], and tell us:

  • the location of the information (copy and paste the URL/address from your browser address bar)
  • your name and email address (so we can respond)
  • the format you need (for example, audio CD, braille, British Sign Language (BSL), large print, accessible PDF)

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If you find any accessibility problems that are not listed on this page, or you think we’re not meeting the accessibility requirements, email: [email protected] in the first instance so that we can work to resolve the issue. If you   contact us with a complaint about the accessibility of our online services, and you’re not happy with our response the Equality Advisory and Support Service may be able to help you.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations.

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Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard

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The content on York SEND Local Offer is committed to making our website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the following non-compliances listed below.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • there may be some occurrences of mark-up languages not used in a way that fully conforms to their specifications, all of the requirements in 4.1.1 are met. Therefore, while fully conforming to specifications is not required to conform to WCAG 2.0, it is a best practice and is sufficient to meet Success Criterion 4.1.1

  • some lists or groups of links may not be written semantically - WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1

  • some form controls may not appear sufficiently distinct from their surroundings, so that people with visual impairments are still able to clearly see them. - WCAG 2.1 AA 1.4.11

  • there may be some text on this website may not sufficiently contrast with its background colour, so that people with moderate visual impairments can read it - this technique relates to Success Criterion (AA) WCAG AA 1.4.3

  • some text links may link to anchors that do not exist - WCAG 2.0 A 2.4.1

  • some textual content may be written in a way that's too difficult to understand - WCAG 2.0 AAA 3.1.5

  • some links may not be defined in a specific way to be accessed by screen readers, which are used by blind and the partially sighted - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG 2.0 A 4.1.

  • there may be elements that don't Identify the purpose of fields programmatically WCAG 2.1 AA 1.3.5

  • there may be some tables that are missing headers WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1

  • there may be cases of 2 adjacent links that point to the same destination, where they shouldn't. We always want to combine the 2 links - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG 2.0 A 1.1.1

  • some headings on the website may fail accessibility as they do not provide text within the Header tag - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1

  • there may be cases of some images fail to specify alternative text, via an alt attribute. The alternative text should describe the purpose of the link - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG A 1.1.1

  • there may be cases where links on the website fail to explain their purpose - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG A 2.4.4

  • there may be some interactive components on a page, such as buttons or fields, that are not large enough to be easily used by people with motor impairments - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG 2.1 AAA 2.5.5

  • there may be failures to comply with the strictest accessibility standard (WCAG AAA), the colour of text must strongly contrast with its background colour, so that people with significant visual impairments can read it - this technique relates to Success Criterion WCAG 2.0 AAA 1.4.6

Where downloads (in PDF, and other file formats) do not meet accessibility standards we plan to fix or replace them, either when they are next reviewed, or as part of our ongoing programme of review work, whichever is sooner.

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Parts of our online services are exempt from accessibility standard 'WCAG 2.1 AA'.

Disproportionate burden

We’ve assessed accessibility issues within a number of our online systems and believe that fixing them now would be a disproportionate burden (within the meaning of the accessibility regulations). In some cases this is because a system will be retired or replaced soon. We'll retire or replace systems in a way that causes minimum disruption and also make further assessments when supplier contracts renewed or suppliers are changed. Any replacement systems will be as accessible as possible.


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We’re committed to being a fair and inclusive website, and we're passionate about providing accessible services, ensuring they’re properly designed and coded, so more people can use them, more easily, regardless of their hardware, software, language, location, or ability.

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Our online services are currently being (and will continue to be) reviewed for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA This statement was prepared in May 2023. It was last reviewed on 19/10/2023, by the City of York Council.

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