This policy explains how accessible the documents on www.peterborough.gov.uk are. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document.

Using our documents

Peterborough City Council publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDFs and spreadsheets. We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:

provide an HTML or open data alternative for core service information and service delivery
tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure
make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they’re there for
avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data
write in plain English

How accessible our documents are

Documents that we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access our services should be fully accessible. All our documents pass automated accessibility checks to WCAG 2.2. We aim to fix any issues within four weeks of upload. Typically, we will never have more than 3% of our PDF documents failing accessibility checks at any time.

Although most of our documents pass automated accessibility checks - we know that in reality these may not be 'humanly accessible' - for example it might be a plan map of a new parking zone - or a technical diagram with alt text, but the complexity of the diagram may not be fully explained. We also know large PDFs, do not work well on small screens. We aim to include a contact number or alternative information these instances.

During 2025 we will be exploring and gradually seeking to reduce the use of PDFs on our website. Where possible we will seek to create HTML content, prioritising core service information. Strategies, reports and other large documents and document with few downloads will not be prioritised.

What to do if you cannot use one of our documents

If you need to access information in a PDF that has been uploaded, and it does not meet your needs, you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements please contact the web team.

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 the accessibility of our documents

Peterborough City Council is committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The documents Peterborough City Council publishes are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Making documents available in other languages

We do not provide documents translated into other languages on our website. If you would like to request a document in another language, please contact us and a translated version of a document may be provided where possible. You can use your own operating system, browser or tools to convert html or documents into other languages.

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

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

WCAG 2.0 AA 2.4.5 - Ensure long PDFs use bookmarks to aid navigation. Affects 4 PDF documents. Action - Authors to resolve by October 2025.

WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1 - Specify headings for every PDF. 87 Instances. Action - Authors to resolve by October 2025.

WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1 - Ensure the first heading in a PDF is a H1. 27 instances. Action - Authors to resolve by October 2025.

WCAG 2.0 A 3.1.1 - Ensure PDFs specify a default language. 4 instances. Action - Authors to resolve by October 2025.

A few of our documents have diagrams or maps. These images have a text alternative, but it may be impossible to fully detail what is visually being described, so the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

Documents on this pavement licence page are submitted by the public and are made available immediately for 7 days as part of a wider consultation. Parts of the documents may contain hand drawn diagrams and hand-written information. Contact details are on the page to access this information in an alternative way.

Documents on this school admissions page, are not our documents, and are supplied by the schools administering this process. They are a mix of document and forms, in word and PDF format and have a range of content tagging issues between then. For an alternative format the schools can be contacted directly.

Documents in our financial section can contain complex tables and data. You can contact us to ask for this information in an alternative format.

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

We have some third-party documents linked to from our website, these are often not part of our service delivery and often promotional materials, signposting and further information materials. We aim to hyperlink to 3rd party materials, and only host them where they are not available elsewhere.

Accessible document policy last reviewed April 2025.

Residents