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Accessibility Statement
This is the Accessibility Statement for the Carewise website. This website is run by West Sussex County Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.
This website should allow users to:
- Change contrast levels and size of text.
- Modify the line height or spacing of text.
- Zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the page.
- 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.
This website was launched in 18th September 2020. It has been updated on the 7th August 2024 to be compliant with the international standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (WCAG) – Level AA.
A further update has occurred on the 12th June 2025 to resolve accessibility issues raised by the Cabinet Office.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- This website uses JavaScript to deliver certain features. Please make sure you have JavaScript turned on within your browser to deliver full features;
- Older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
- Live video streams do not have captions;
Accessible Features
This website uses a widget that contains several Accessible features that can be used by users with specific requirements. The widget is available on the top right-hand side of the header menu.
These features include: -
Contrast & Font Size
Changing the contrast and font sizes of text can increase legibility for some users.
This website has two colour contrast settings, firstly, the “default colour scheme” which provides a suitable level of contrast for most users and satisfies the accessibility standards. However, if a user feels the colour contrast is too low in areas the website also contains a “high contrast scheme” which satisfies all accessibility standards for colour contrast.
A user can change the contrast settings by clicking on the icons at the top right of screen. For a user using voice recognition please say, “Switch to default colour scheme” and “Switch to high contrast scheme” respectively for the same result.
To increase the font size, click on the icons at the top right of the screen. For a user using voice recognition please say, “Switch to normal font size”, “Switch to big font size” and “Switch to biggest font size” respectively for the same result. The user can also use the browser’s own zoom facility. The website will work up to 200%
The RNIB has a webpage with information on options that computers have which can make it easier for people with low or no vision to use them.
Efforts have been made to create accessible alternatives for content that does not meet standards where possible.
Where appropriate we may be able to deliver content to users in accordance with their needs.
Please see 'Make a request for accessible content' section for further details.
For information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille.
Contact details for West Sussex Council
Alternatively, you can contact Adults’ CarePoint.
Email: socialcare@westsussex.gov.uk.
Phone: 01243 642121
NGT Text Relay: 18001 01243 642121 (available as a downloadable app for computer tablets and smartphones. Helps people with speech and hearing difficulties.)
Write to: West Sussex County Council Adults’ CarePoint, Second Floor, The Grange, County Hall, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1RG
We aim to respond to your request within five days.
Carewiseadvice.com will use links to navigate to content on the website. External links will open in a new window.
Where possible the action of an external link will be explained by extra description within the link text. However, in certain areas of the website adding this extra description will become a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
We have provided the following definition for external links.
External links are used for content that navigates a user away from our secure platform. The following items are considered external links.
- Non-HTML documentation (See ‘Issues with PDFs and other documents’)
- Redirection away from secure platforms
- External websites that are not part of Carewiseadvice.com.
West Sussex is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the following non-compliances and exemptions listed in the following chapter.
Non-accessible content
This chapter lists issues that fail the current accessibility regulations. The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
This sub-section lists issues that fail the current accessibility regulations.
- Non-HTML documentation - some of these documents are inaccessible with certain accessibility technologies. These include the document heading structure, use of tables and insufficient alternative descriptions. We will implement these changes in future documentation where possible. Where these documents cannot be made fully accessible, we are committed to providing an HTML alternative.
- The pages hosted on the Shop4Support content management system (CMS) are not compliant. We are resolving this by moving them onto the Umbraco CMS by December 2024.
- Older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
- Live video streams do not have captions.
Disproportionate burden
There are no issues that are considered a disproportionate burden.
Whilst West Sussex County Council strives to adhere to accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the Accessibility Regulations
This chapter lists issues that fail the current accessibility regulations. The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
This sub-section lists issues that fail the current accessibility regulations.
During our last review of this website we have fixed all major issues that failed WCAG 2.2, please see "Resolutions Section" for detailed summary of the fixes.
Here are the issues that have come to our attention that there are areas of the website that fail to meet WCAG 2.2: -
Issues with My Account and Login Pages
Testing the login page has discovered the following accessibility issues.
- Contrast of Placeholder text is too low. This causes a failure for WCAG criteria 1.4.3 Contrast. This will be fixed by July 2025.
- Page title not descriptive enough. This causes a failure for WCAG criteria 2.4.2 Page Titled. This will be fixed by July 2025.
- Form control items are not fully labelled or have correct landmarks. This causes failures with WCAG criteria 1.3.1 Information and Relationships. This will be fixed by July 2025.
Issues with PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be marked up to be accessible for a screen reader.
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with Easy Read Information on how users can access our services. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.
Issues with images, video and audio
Live video streams have captions auto added by YouTube, not all videos are currently checked for the accuracy of their captioning.
Resolutions of Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Since this statement was last updated the following accessibility issues have been resolved
RESOLVED: Issues with Colour Contrast being too low and items not being focus visible
The following issues were resolved from the 12th June 2025 deployment.
The Colour Contrast theme were considered too low on some content pages. These items didn't have an acceptable keyboard focus outline. This broke contrast and focus highlight regulations.
All pages now have an appropriate colour contrast theme and all link elements are focus visible.
RESOLVED: Issues with Link Text not being descriptive enough
On a previous accessibility audit it had be noted that there were different web links that didn't make sense out of context. We are constantly reviewing new items get published that they meet requirements.
RESOLVED: Issues with Mobile Devices and Screen Reflow
The following issues were resolved from the 12th June 2025 deployment.
Since the last review of this statement the hamburger menu required the user to say “Toggle Navigation” to open/close the menu. A user can now say "Menu" to expand or collapse the Hamburger Menu when viewing the website on a mobile device screen. This passes success criteria 2.5.3: Label in Name (AA) of the accessibility standards
At 400% zoom and in mobile view (320 x 256 pixels), the menu along the top of the webpage does not reflow correctly as it is no longer visible without scrolling horizontally. This failed WCAG 2.2 criteria 1.4.10 Reflow.
Web content that is not subject to the standards referenced in this policy statement are as follows.
- Content that is archived.
- Content on intranets and extranets published before 23/09/2019
- Non-HTML documentation (PDFs, Microsoft Office files) that were published before 23/09/2018.
- Non-HTML documentation (PDFs, Microsoft Office files) that are not essential to the services Carewise18 provides.
- Live audio and video
- Pre-recorded audio and video published before 23/09/2020
- Online maps and mapping services
Third party content that is not under direct control of West Sussex County Council or main website provider – Google Translate, social media links.
If you find any problems that are not listed within this statement, or believe we are not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations please contact us.
Contact details for West Sussex Council
Email: Carewise@westsussex.gov.uk
Alternatively, you can contact Adults’ CarePoint.
Email: socialcare@westsussex.gov.uk.
Phone: 01243 642121
NGT Text Relay: 18001 01243 642121 (available as a downloadable app for computer tablets and smartphones. Helps people with speech and hearing difficulties.)
Write to: West Sussex County Council Adults’ CarePoint, Second Floor, The Grange, County Hall, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1RG
Enforcement Procedure
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Services (EASS)
The new version of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.2 were published on 5th October 2023.
This has replaced WCAG 2.1 as the legally required accessibility standard on October 2024.
This statement was prepared on 18th September 2020. It will be reviewed every year in accordance with the regulations. It was last reviewed on 13th June 2025.
This website was last tested on 27th March 2025 by the Cabinet Office. Further accessibility audits were carried out by West Sussex and our website provider, People Places Lives on 29th April 2025 and 30th May 2025.
To prepare this statement an accessibility test was carried out by People Places Lives QA Team. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by our website team. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.