Accessibility and translation
This accessibility statement applies to the Lowther Homes website.
Update January 2024: accessibility is a priority for us, and we are currently working to update our website to improve user features. Thank you for your patience while we make these improvements.
Lowther Homes is committed to making sure everyone can access information on our website www.lowtherhomes.com
We are working towards making changes that mean this website is as easy and convenient to use as possible by people of all abilities and disabilities. This includes older audiences and those with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments.
We've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
Lowther Homes 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 run by Lowther Homes. Visitors to the website should be able to:
- use it with just your keyboard;
- change the size of the text using the resize option in your browser (see section below);
- change the colour of body text and the background colours used on the site by changing preferences in your browser;
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader;
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software;
- understand the content easily.
Reporting accessibility problems:
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, contact us by email at info@lowtherhomes.com We'll consider your request and get back to you within 10 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:
We know some parts of this website aren't yet fully accessible. We will identify and fix issues.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below:
- some text has poor colour contrast;
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text;
- older PDF documents are not fully accessible to a screen reader (see section below);
- some images are not marked as decorative;
- some images do not have good alternative text;
- maps - but we provide essential information in an accessible format like an address;
- some heading elements are not consistent;
- some tables do not have row headers;
- some older videos don’t have captions.
PDFs:
Several of our leaflets and application forms are available on the site for downloading. Most of these documents are in PDF format which means they can only be viewed using Adobe Reader. This software is available free of charge from the Adobe Website
All PDF documents on this site will open in a new browser window. After viewing or printing the document, you can close the browser window to return to your initial page.
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.
Images:
Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
We plan to add missing text alternatives for images. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meet accessibility standards.
Translations:
Lowther Homes offers translation and interpretation through DA Languages – a company set up to break down barriers between organisations and members of the communities they serve who have difficulty in communicating in spoken or written English. How to request a translation:
- call 0800 561 6666 - we're available 24/7
- email: info@lowtherhomes.com
If you need to view website in another language we recommend using Google Translate. You can find Google translation options under ‘Translate’ in the footer of every website page on this site. You can also copy and paste the web address for this page into the URL field, then choose a language by selecting the drop down menu at the top-centre of the page.
We have guides to help you with translation and interpretation, to make sure you can access our services and report any issues. Can’t see the language you need? Get in touch and we will arrange this.
- Customer translation and interpretation guide – English
- Customer translation and interpretation guide - Arabic
- Customer translation and interpretation guide - Persian
- Customer translation and interpretation guide - Polish
- Customer translation and interpretation guide - Vietnamese
- Customer translation and interpretation guide - Kurdish
British Sign Language:
If you are deaf or hearing impaired and use British Sign Language (BSL) you can use our BSL translation service. This is provided through DA Languages, who offer a video interpreting service to break down communication barriers between people who are deaf and hearing. No specialist equipment is required, you just need a webcam to use this service.
To arrange this service, please contact us by email at: info@wheatley-group.com
Induction loops
We have induction loops at all of our Centres of Excellence. One of our friendly hub offers can support you to use this.
Text size:
The text size for this site can be changed using your browser. Follow the advice below for your chosen browser:
- Internet Explorer: select the ‘View’ menu, then ‘Text size’;
- Firefox: select the ‘View’ menu, then ‘Zoom’ or ‘Zoom text only’;
- Safari: select the ‘View’ menu, then ‘Make text bigger’ or ‘Make text smaller’;
- Opera: select the ‘View’ menu, then ‘Zoom’;
- Chrome: select the ‘More settings’ menu, then under ‘Appearance’ use the arrows next to ‘Page zoom’.
Additional support:
Information, advice and support about making adjustments to your browser is available at the AbilityNet website.
Contact us by phone, email or visit us in person:
- call 0800 561 6666 - we're available 24/7
- email: info@lowtherhomes.com
Details of testing:
This section was last reviewed on 26 January 2024.
We used Google Analytics to identify our most visited pages for manual testing.
Accessibility testing was carried out using third-party tools, Squiz funnelback and WAVE, on a sample of test pages.