This website is run by North Kesteven District Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- 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’re also making the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Accessibility statement
North Kesteven District Council is committed to making its website(s) accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This accessibility statement applies to the following sites:
- North Kesteven District Council website (www.n-kesteven.gov.uk).
- North Kesteven District Council Online Payments (apps.adelante.co.uk/SmartPay/northkesteven/pay4/)
- North Kesteven District Council "Democracy" site (democracy.n-kesteven.gov.uk)
- North Kesteven District Council "Jobs" site (jobs.n-kesteven.gov.uk)
- North Kesteven District Council "Planning Online" site (https://planningonline.n-kesteven.gov.uk)
Compliance status
This website(s) is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliance(s)] and the exemptions listed below.
Non accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non compliance with the accessibility regulations
- Our ‘online payment’ system is not fully compliant; this is due to limitations in the payment portal supplied by our provider. The system currently fails on a number of WCAG 2.1 success criterion, including 1.1.1 (Non-text Content), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels)
We plan to work with our supplier to resolve these issues. - Our ‘Democracy’ site is not fully compliant; this is due to limitations in our governance and meeting management system. This system fails on a number of WCAG 2.1 success criterion, including 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels), 4.1.1 (Parsing).
We plan to work with our supplier to resolve these issues. - Some PDF documents created prior to 16 September 2021 on our ‘Democracy’ site may not have the language set; this was due to limitations in our governance and meeting management system. This failed on WCAG 2.1 success criterion, 3.1.1 Language of Page.
This issue was resolved on 16 September 2021 and any PDF documents created on our on our ‘Democracy’ site after this date will have the correct language set. - Our ‘Jobs’ site is not fully compliant; this is due to limitations in our HR and payroll system. This system fails on a number of WCAG 2.1 success criterion, including 1.1.1 (Non-text Content), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)), 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
We plan to work with our supplier to resolve these issues. - Our ‘Planning online’ site is not fully compliant; this is due to limitations in our planning system. This system fails on a number of WCAG 2.1 success criterion, including 1.1.1 (Non-text Content), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels), 4.1.1 (Parsing).
We plan to work with our supplier to resolve these issues. - A number of our downloadable documents, including PDFs, are not fully compliant.
We will be working towards replacing these documents with either compliant versions or converting the content into webpages. - We provide access to a number of third party documents, such as Neighbourhood Plans, many of these may not be compliant, however as these have not been created by North Kesteven District Council we are unable to resolve any issues they may have.
Disproportionate burden
Pre-recorded videos
Pre-recorded videos of committee meetings do not have captions, nor do they have full transcriptions.
Audio recordings
Audio recordings of committee meetings do not have full transcriptions.
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with pre-recorded videos and audio recordings. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. 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.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish we will endeavour to have them meet the required accessibility standards. We also provide access to a number of third party documents, such as Neighbourhood Plans, many of these may not be compliant, however as these have not been created by North Kesteven District Council we are unable to resolve the any issues they may have.
Live video
Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 24 November 2025.
This website is tested and reviewed on a continuous basis. These tests are a combination of automated and manual checks using the Acquia Optimize Web Accessibility tool
The statement was last reviewed on 24 November 2025.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
- send us a message using the General Enquiries form
- call (01529) 414155.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, send us a message using the General Enquiries form.
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our council offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Find out how to contact North Kesteven District Council.
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).