Documents

Information in documents is not easy for people to find and difficult to use on a mobile. 

Wherever possible we do not use PDF, Word or other document formats. We publish information in a web page instead. 

Problems with PDFs and documents 

We avoid documents because: 

  • they don’t meet a range of accessibility needs, such as the ability to change colour or font size 

  • they take visitors away from the website 

  • they are difficult to find, use and keep up to date 

  • when they are found using a search engine, they lack context or supporting information 

For these reasons, we work with services to find alternatives to adding documents to the website. 

Exceptions 

We consider publishing new documents: 

  • where there is a legal obligation to provide the information in a PDF or Word format on the website 

  • that are forms which, for legal reasons, need to be signed by hand 

  • that contain complex information and are too impractical to be turned into a web page. For example, policies, reports or strategies needed for transparency or key to delivering a service 

If we publish a document it must: 

  • have an evidenced user or business need 

  • meet accessibility regulations – this is the responsibility of the author 

  • supplement web content that will highlight an overview of its content 

Linking to documents 

Links to documents are within the main page text or displayed using our document styling. The text used for the link explains what the document is for. 

The size of the file and name of the format are always displayed. This helps people to understand what they are downloading. 

Contact us  

Please contact webmaster@arun.gov.uk if you are unsure whether a document meets content standards.