Accessibility statement
This accessibility statement applies to the website, https://www.towerhamletsconnect.org/
This website is run by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets . We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- Change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings;
- Zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen;
- Navigate most of the website using a keyboard or 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 is designed to be compliant with the international standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (WCAG) – Level AA.
A further update has occurred on the 23rd June 2025 to resolve accessibility issues raised by an accessibility audit from the Cabinet Office.
How accessible is this website?
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;
- Forms module doesn’t work with High Contrast Styles;
- PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
How to use this website?
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 three 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%
Further information on accessibility options
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. - RNB Accessibility Options
Accessible Alternatives
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 Feedback and contact information section for further details.
Purpose of Links
The website 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 described by extra description within the link text, so all users can understand the link’s purpose. However, in certain areas of the website adding this maybe not possible.
Therefore, we have provided the following definition for external links: -
External Links will be used for any content that has known limitations with assistive technologies OR navigates a user away from secure platforms. In summary, this means 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 council website.
Feedback and contact information
If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, or if you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
- Telephone: 020 7364 5000
- Email: THConnect@towerhamlets.gov.uk
We will consider your request and get back to you in 30 days.
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 this website’s accessibility
Tower Hamlets are committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Compliance Status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to ‘the non-compliances and exemptions’ listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the 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.
Areas of the website that fail to meet WCAG 2.2 have been brought to our attention.
Cookie Control issues
It has been discovered during the audit there are specific accessibility issues with the Cookie Control by UserCentrics. This is a third-party widget that is not under the control of Tower Hamlets or our main web developers.
Not all the buttons on the Cookie Control are keyboard accessible. This fails success criteria WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard. A current workaround is to use the "Show Details" link. This changes the widget to a popup layout where the buttons are keyboard accessible.
The Cookie Control buttons are not focus visible at 400% zoom. This fails success criteria WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible. We would advise to use the website at 200% zoom when viewing the cookie control.
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 do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.
High Contrast issues
It has come to our attention that some of our content isn’t displayed correctly with our high-contrast design. This occurs in the forms module of the website. This means it will be difficult for visually impaired users who may require this design to see all content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.6 Contrast (Advanced) a Level AAA requirement.
All pages work conform to Colour Contrast at default contrast style.
Resolutions of Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Since this statement was last updated the following accessibility issues have been resolved:-
RESOLVED: Issues with Search Bar across the header
The following issues were resolved from the 23rd June 2025 deployment.
The keyboard focus is now visible for 4 keyboard tabs when tabbing from the magnifying glass icon, this now passes WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible.
Search Bar magnifying glass now works with all high contrast styles.
RESOLVED: Issues with Header Menus and Mobile devices
The following issues were resolved from the 23rd 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 Main Menu and Hamburger Menu items, along the top of the webpage, can now be seen and are fully scrollable. This passes success criteria 1.4.10 Reflow of the accessibility standards.
All link items within Main Menu and Hamburger Menu are focus visible and have sufficient colour contrast.
RESOLVED: Issues with Link Text not being descriptive enough
On a previous accessibility audit, it had been noted that there were different web links that did not make sense out of context. We are constantly reviewing new items as they are published to ensure that they meet requirements.
Disproportionate burden
There are no issues that are considered a disproportionate burden in accordance to the regulations.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
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 in October 2024.
Our website provider has discovered issues with the WCAG 2.2 standard
While testing this website, issues with the new accessibility regulations have been discovered. We are working with our website provider to ensure we meet this deadline by June 2025.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on the 20/07/2021 . It will be reviewed every year in accordance with the regulations. It was last reviewed on that 27th June 2025.
This website was last tested on 9th April 2025 by the Cabinet Office.
Further accessibility audits were carried out by Tower Hamlets and our website provider, People Places Lives on the 7th May 2025 and 24th June 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.