Improving accessibility of our website
An estimated one in four people face challenges online due to disabilities, learning differences, visual impairments, or language barriers, and we’re committed to ensuring our communications meet people’s needs.
During the past year, 593,092 people visited our website, viewing 2,318,192 pages. We’re working hard to ensure our website meets people’s needs and the government’s legal requirements for accessibility.
We’ve also taken a significant step towards ensuring our website is digitally inclusive by using the Recite Me assistive toolbar to ensure everyone who uses the site can browse, engage and access online content easily. The toolbar provides screen reading support to help visitors with visual impairments or cognitive differences to access the information they need, also giving people the ability to customise how the website looks by adjust fonts, colours and layouts to prove focus, comprehension, and retentions so they can read information easily.
An online translation and text to speech tool also translates words into more than 100 languages, including 65 text-to-speech voices, to support people where English is not their first language.
We’re also using the Recite Me Accessibility checker tool, which reports that our website is 96% level A, and 97% level AA compliant. Level A is the basic level of accessibility while level AA is the standard recommended level which we aim to comply with.
You can use the tool by clicking on the accessibility toolbar link at the top of every page on our website.
Unpaid carers can join My Bay free for savings in Torbay
Torbay Council’s My Bay scheme is free to unpaid carers registered with Torbay Carers and you can join now for 12 months of offers, deals and discounts, including:
- permit for an extra hour free parking when you pay for an hour or more by cash or card in off-street car parks
- discount card – now with a digital version for your phone – to unlock exclusive savings with around 150 local businesses.
- £10 worth of entry to public toilets (33 visits) accessed from your My Bay resident card.
You could save £45 to £75 per person each year and the standard £10 sign-up fee to cover admin costs has been waived for unpaid carers registered with Torbay Carers.
The My Bay scheme is designed to help people who live in Torbay enjoy our beautiful Bay for less and support local businesses. It is open to people who live in Torbay aged 16 and older. Carers have to give their Carer Passport number on applying, plus their V5 for a parking permit.
You can apply online now any time or in person at the main libraries with your documents. Find out more and apply My Bay – Torbay Council.
