Accessibility: Website Accessibility
Overview
Our commitment and approach to maintaining an accessible website
Mayo County Council is committed to maintaining an accessible website. Our commitment to this is stated in the Mayo Local Authorities Customer Care Charter. Mayo County Council is also a signatory of the Barcelona Declaration and is covered by the Disability Act 2005.
To comply with these goals/standards, Mayo County Council is committed to making all of the Council's online materials as accessible as possible. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility of our website.
Mayo County Council is committed to ensuring that this website achieves "Double-A" conformance with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0. This means that every page will comply with all checkpoints in the top 2 priorities of WCAG 1.0, to comply with the National Disability Authority's Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information Provided by Public Bodies. The National Disability Authority's Centre for Excellence in Universal Design has an introduction to policy and legislation relevant to Universal Design in Ireland.
Mayo County Council is committed to ensuring that any new additions to the website will achieve "Level AA" conformance to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
Mayo County Council is committed to ensuring that accessibility will feature in any future procurement requests for 3rd-party systems or upgrades to existing systems.
View our scheduled Accessibility works for 2010.
Statement of the website's conformance with official accessibility guidelines
Most of our website conforms to WCAG 2.0 "Level AA" and meets many WCAG 1.0 and 2.0 "Level AAA" checkpoints. The most recent accessibility audit for this website took place during Q4 2009 and issues highlighted were corrected in Q1 2010. We also conduct less formal internal audits at least once per year.
Areas for improvement and time-lines
We are aware of some areas on the website where accessibility can be improved. We are currently working to achieve this. We hope that this website will achieve "Double-A" conformance with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 by the end of Q4 2010.
| Section of website | Need for improvement | Time-line for improvement | Alternative access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section of website | Need for improvement | Time-line for improvement | Alternative access |
| Online Videos | Not all videos on the website have subtitles and/or transcripts available. | This is a work in progress. We plan to have all videos either captioned and/or transcripted by the end of 2010. | If you need a transcript or caption of a video, phone Mayo County Council's Access Officer at 094 902 4444 or email us at AccessForAll@mayococo.ie. |
| eAgenda System | While our online Meeting and Agenda system (eAgenda) is itself Accessible, it uses documents provided in non-Accessible formats (ex. Word and PDF documents which are not in Accessible formats). This will be an ongoing challenge as meeting documents are not available until the statutory 3 days before meetings take place and come from a variety of sources--many outside the control of Mayo County Council (ex. national and international agencies, think tanks, statutory agencies, community and voluntary groups, firms, etc.). |
Mayo County Council staff will be provided with Accessible Word templates in late 2010/early 2011. It is planned that these would be used to create Accessible HTML versions of most documents used on the system. However, not all documents will be available in an Accessible format for the forseeable future, due to the use of documents from sources outside the control of Mayo County Council. | If you have problems using the eAgenda system, phone Mayo County Council's Access Officer at 094 902 4444 or email us at AccessForAll@mayococo.ie. |
| Documents and Forms |
|
Mayo County Council staff will be provided with Accessible Word templates in late 2010/early 2011. It is planned that these would be used to create Accessible HTML versions of most future documents used on the system. However, not all documents will be available in an Accessible format for the forseeable future, due to the use of documents from sources outside the control of Mayo County Council such as national forms and application forms provided by third parties. | If you need an Accessible version of any document or form on this website, phone Mayo County Council's Access Officer at 094 902 4444 or email us at AccessForAll@mayococo.ie. |
| Planning Documents | Planning documents associated with applications. In most cases, these are scanned copies of the originals and are presented as images. | Unfortunately, we have no way of making these documents available in an Accessible format and, in some cases, it would be impossible to do so (ex. maps, drawings, etc.). | If you need assistance with a specifc Planning Application, please contact the Planning Section for assistance. |
| Map-based Information | Map-based information is not Accessible to all customers. | This is an inherent limitation of maps. | All information displayed on maps is available in text format. For Planning information, use our text-based search or contact the Planning Section for assistance. For other maps, contact the relevant Council Section by email or phone the Council and ask for the relevant Section at 094 902 4444 |
| Self-Service PrePlanning System (SSPS) |
The map-based Self-Service PrePlanning System is not Accessible. This system gives a report on a specific site based on the County Development Plan and Local Area Plans. |
This is an inherent limitation of maps. | All of the information available via the SSPS is on the website in the Planning Section. Contact Planning for assistance on how these plans impact your proposed developments. |
| National Pamplets, Legislation, etc. | Pamphlets, forms (ex. Higher Education Grants), legislation and other documents/information provided by national government departments are not always Accessible. | These reports are typically provided by outside bodies over whom Mayo County Council has no control. Due to the nature of most of these items, it is not practical for these items to be made Accessible. | Please contact the relevant government agency for assistance. This will typically be the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. |
| Technical Reports | Technical reports including those relating to the Corrib Gas Pipeline and various Planning Development and Local Area Plans. | These reports are typically provided by outside bodies over whom Mayo County Council has no control. Due to the nature of most of these items, it is not practical for these items to be made Accessible. | If you need an Accessible version of any document or form on this website, phone Mayo County Council's Access Officer at 094 902 4444 or email us at AccessForAll@mayococo.ie. |
| Invalid Mark-up | Certain pages containing invalid XHTML. | We typically audit the website informally at least once per year and formally every 12-18 months. We will repair any issues found during these audits. | If a specific page is unusable for you because of a invlaid markup, please email the webmaster for assistance. |
| Meta Fields | Missing mandatory Meta Data fields (e.g. language, description and keywords). | We typically audit the website informally at least once per year and formally every 12-18 months. We will repair any issues found during these audits. | If a specific page is unusable for you because of a missing meta element, please email the webmaster for assistance. |
| Pre-2007 News and Documents | Some older documents and news are not in Accessible formats. | Due to the nature and age of some items, it is not practical for these items to be made Accessible. | If a specific document/page is unusable for you because of its format, please email the webmaster for assistance. |
View our scheduled Accessibility works for 2010.
A Note on PDF and Microsoft Word Format Documents
The website uses W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) technologies wherever possible. However there remains a number of documents that use the Portable Document Format (PDF) and/or Microsoft Word.
While we have attempted to provide accessible alternatives for these documents you may find certain documents on this site are available only in these formats, which require you to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software. If you cannot access the information in any PDF or Word document please email webmaster@mayococo.ie or phone us at (094) 90 24444.
Alternative Formats
Mayo County Council documents can be provided within two weeks, in any of the following formats:
- Audio Tape
- Braille
- HTML
- Plain Text
- Large Print
- High Contrast Print
Sign Language interpreters are also available, with appropriate notice, to facilitate meetings.
To request a document in an alternative format, contact the Accessibility Officer by phone at 094 90 24444 or by email at accessforall@mayococo.ie
How to send feedback on this website's accessibility
We welcome feedback on the accessibility of this website.
- E-mail us at webmaster@mayococo.ie
- Write to us at IT Section, Mayo County Council, Aras an Contae, The Mall, Castlebar, County Mayo.
- Phone us on 094 902 4444.
Accessibility features of this website
- Resizable Text - this allows users to increase/decrease the size of the text on the page making it easier to read comfortably. To use this feature, simply click on the As located at the top right of your screen.
- Use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for layout control of presentation. This allows users to disable the style sheets and/or use their own custom style sheets to make the site easier to read.
- All data tables and forms contain additional mark-up that may help assistive technologies such as screen readers
- Skip link navigation to allow visually impaired users to easily move around on a web page.
- All documents are marked up appropriately, with meaningful links and correct heading structures.
Access For All Committee
Aras an Contae
The Mall
Castlebar
County Mayo
Please feel free to contact us concerning any issues of accessibility related to Mayo County Council.
Phone: 094 90 24444
Email: accessforall@mayococo.ie
Open:
9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm Monday to Friday
