Website help and accessibility

We want cheshireeast.gov.uk to be easy to use.

There may be times when we don't get it right. This information may help.

Accessibility options

Many operating systems now include accessibility options that you can tailor to your needs on your own device. Options may include voiceover or talk back to read a screen to you, you can change screen colours or contrast, change text sizes and shortcut controls.

To find the accessibility options on your device:

• Apple go to settings then general then accessibility
• Android go to settings then system then accessibility
• Windows go to your control panel

We do what we can to make sure anything on our web site helps these accessibility options to work smoothly.

Text size - making it bigger or smaller

You can alter the size of the text on your mobile phone or tablet by moving apart two fingers on the screen - or make it smaller by pinching your fingers together. If you change the font size in your settings you wont need to alter the size on each page.

If you're using a computer or laptop you can the change the font size in your browser settings or by using keyboard shortcuts 

• CTRL + to zoom in
• CTRL - to zoom out
• CTRL 0 (zero) to reset to normal size
• If you have a mouse scroll wheel, hold CTRL and scroll up to zoom in and scroll down to zoom out.

Translating from English language

You can use Google Translate to get a word for word translation of this site, for more details see our language translation page.

Images and alternative text

We use images to illustrate the content of a web page. Images have text descriptions known as their 'alt' tag. These text descriptions explain what you should see if the image doesn't appear on the screen.

Opening links in a new window

The links on our site are shown by underlined text and open in the same window. If you want a link to open in a new tab or window,

• on a mobile or tablet
  hold your finger on the link on a touch screen until a menu appears and then select the 'open in a new tab'
• on a pc or laptop
  put the cursor over the link and right click and then select the 'open in a new tab' or 'open in a new window' option 
  or you can press and hold the shift button on your keyboard whilst clicking on the link you wish to open in a new window.

Viewing online documents

When we link to files on www.cheshireeast.gov.uk we indicate the file type and size so you can decide if you want to download the file.

PDF documents

Portable Document Format (PDF) files can be viewed by downloading and installing a free PDF reader.

• Free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software
• Free Foxit Software PDF reader and PDF viewer

Accessible PDF

If you download a PDF and you find you need a more accessible version, email webteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk and we will send you a simplified accessible version.

Video and sound files

We present video via our YouTube channel and Vimeo. Where possible we will give captions or transcripts with our videos.

Audio files are available as downloads in MP3 format. A link to a transcript may also be provided.

Navigating the website

Most people go directly to the page that their search engine decides bests answers their question. If you want to look for more information on our site we have a few ways you can do this:

Search

We have a search that will search for keywords through the pages on our site.

Breadcrumb trail

We show a breadcrumb trail at the top of each page on our website. This shows you each level of the hierarchical structure above the page you are visiting, up to the home page.

Menus - hierarchical structure

If you want to browse through the site you can use the menus. The menus group similar content together and show the pages below the page you are viewing or pages at the same level in that subject area.

A-Z site index

• Each A-Z Site Index page lists our services in alphabetical order. Select the initial letter of the service you require and scroll down the list to find the service you want.
• The A-Z can be accessed directly from the home page or from the quick link next to the search.

Sitemap

The sitemap lists all pages contained on this website. This list of pages is in the order of the menu structure rather than alphabetical. Each section page has a site map showing the pages in that section.

Online transactions

Completing online forms

• Each on-line form contains fields (blank boxes). You should type the responses to the questions in these fields.
• On a mobile phone or tablet tap in the form fields to fill them in and get the on-screen keyboard
• On a PC or laptop you can tab between fields or use your mouse to move into a field.
• Click the "next" or "submit" button to move to the next section of the form.
• Mandatory fields are identified by a red asterisk (*) preceding the form field. You must type a response into these fields in order to continue with your form submission.
• Certain fields are validated as you submit and may return an error message if you have input incorrect data. These errors are identified and where appropriate, the nature of the error is explained and suggestions are made to assist in completion of the form.

Credit card payments

• You can make a credit/debit card payment with any of the following cards: Delta, Visa, Mastercard, Solo, Switch, JCB.
• You will be required to provide your personal details, details of the account you wish to make a payment for, plus your credit card details.
• Your details are submitted over a secure server which means that the transaction is encrypted from the moment it leaves your PC until it reaches our server. Look for the padlock symbol that indicates the secure connection.
• The transaction is validated online and the money will be taken by the bank within 24 hours.
• We do not store any credit cards details.

Third party applications

Some parts of our web site are provided via third party applications. We make every effort to integrate these with our main site but it is not always possible.

Reporting issues with the website

If you have any difficulties accessing or using the website or its applications, and are not able to resolve them using the information above, please contact us.