What digital accessibility means to us

Everyone at Nottinghamshire County Council must help make sure our online services are easy for people to use.

On this page

People deserve access to online services

People often don’t have a choice when using our websites or digital services, so it’s important they work well for everyone.

This includes:

  • our websites and mobile apps 
  • documents we produce and publish, such as PDFs or Word documents
  • online forms or surveys
  • video and audio-only content 
  • marketing emails
  • social media posts
  • any digital content we pay someone else to create for us

Digital accessibility means making sure everyone can perceive, understand, navigate and use our services, no matter their abilities or situation.

How accessibility benefits everyone

What works for one person may not work for another. For example, a video without captions may be fine for someone who can hear it, but it creates a barrier for someone who cannot.

Understanding different accessibility needs

People have different needs at different times, which can affect how they use or understand information. This includes needs related to:

  • vision: including colour blindness, partial sight, or blindness
  • hearing: including people who are hard of hearing or deaf
  • mobility: difficulties using a mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen
  • thinking and understanding: ADHD, autism, or learning/reading difficulties such as dyslexia

Common accessibility barriers

Barriers can be permanent, temporary, or situational.

About 1 in 4 people have a long-term illness, impairment or disability that affects how they access digital information.

Many others experience temporary or situational barriers, such as:

  • limited time, attention, or ability to concentrate
  • temporary conditions like a broken arm, eye strain, ear infection, or migraine
  • situational limitations, like forgetting glasses or a hearing aid, or being in bright sunlight or noisy places
  • changing abilities due to age, including older and younger people
  • limited computer skills or digital literacy
  • different education or reading levels

Technology can create barriers

Technology can also affect accessibility. For example:

  • different devices such as laptops, mobile phones, smartwatches, or smart TVs
  • slow internet connections or limited or expensive bandwidth
  • older devices or software

Making our content accessible helps more people use our services, in more situations and with more types of technology.

Why accessible services matter

As a public service, making our information easier to use and understand benefits everyone.

It:

Accessibility is required by law under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Everyone at the council has a role

Everyone who creates, manages or contributes content for our websites has a role in helping to make it accessible. This includes content created by suppliers and third-party organisations we work with.

Different teams support accessibility in different ways.

Leadership teams

Leadership teams help make accessibility part of the council’s ambitions and strategy.

Communications teams 

Communications teams support others by advising on clear, inclusive content that meets both user needs and legal requirements.

Service teams 

Service teams create or commission: 

  • easy-to-read text using clear structure, plain English and clear link text
  • accessible images, videos and audio 
  • accessible documents, such as PDFs

They keep content accurate and up to date, and listen to feedback from residents and council staff, including people with disabilities, to improve information in practice.

Web editors and authors 

Web editors and authors help make sure pages are easy to use and understand by ensuring content:

  • uses plain English, clear structure and meaningful link text
  • is added correctly using web editing tools, such as coded headings and lists
  • is checked regularly using a mix of manual and automated checks, including basic checks with real users where possible

Web developers 

Web developers design and test our websites so they work well:

  • with service content
  • with assistive technologies such as screen readers and keyboard-only navigation
  • across different devices, including desktop and mobile

Procurement teams

Procurement teams help make sure suppliers meet our accessibility standards and have plans to fix issues where needed.

Customer service teams

Customer service teams help people access information in alternative formats when barriers remain. They also share feedback with services to help improve content and services over time.

Accessibility as an ‘everyability’ 

We want to make creating accessible content the norm at Nottinghamshire County Council, an ‘everyability’. We think a big barrier to this is that people simply don’t know where to start.

There are best practices we can start using today, many of which are simple, low cost, and improve content for everyone. These practices also help content creators build skills and confidence, making accessibility part of everyday work.

We’ve created an online guide to help everyone learn how to make web content accessible, with practical guidance on writing content, using images, and publishing information as web pages, documents and video.

Learn more in our How to create accessible content guide

Last reviewed: 24 December 2025