Accessibility Statement for West Bergholt Parish Council
This policy was adopted by the Council at its meeting held on 29th August 2023, minute Ref. 23/143c. For review annually.
This accessibility statement applies to West Bergholt Parish Council’s website: westbergholt-pc.gov.uk.
This website is run by West Bergholt Parish Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen, if using a built-in zoom function using a browser (pinch to zoom will not fulfil this).
- 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.
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible is this website?
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- it is possible that some visitors may not see the underlining on hyperlinks. The Accessibility Tools we provide, however, will allow a further underline to be added which will allow these links to be more easily found.
- the Site Search facility provided in the Menu shares an ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) Attribute with the Page Search function typically supported by Browsers using the ‘Ctrl F’ keyboard shortcut. We are unable to change this since the browser you use is not within our control and the application providing the site search function is provided by a 3rd party.
- some older PDF documents may not be fully accessible to screen reader software.
- whilst most do, some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information, there is an ongoing programme to rectify this.
- cannot zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen, if using the pinch method to zoom in on the content (using a browser zoom-in function will allow this).
Even in some parts that are generally accessible, some might like to use the Accessibility tools we provide which will allow you to adjust some display elements:
- Text size (Increase/decrease),
- Colour to Grayscale,
- Contrast (High or Negative),
- Light Background,
- Underlined Links, or
- A more readable font.
We used Accessibility Insights for Web to assess which elements of the website are not fully accessible.
What to do if you can’t access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording for example, please contact:
Parish Clerk: Laura Walkingshaw
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07726 424419
Post: 80 Chapel Road, West Bergholt, CO6 3HL
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 15 working 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, please contact:
Parish Clerk at [email protected] or Webmaster at [email protected]
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
West Bergholt Parish Council 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 currently partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.
- it is possible that some visitors may not see the underlining on hyperlinks. The Accessibility Tools we provide, however, will allow a further underline to be added which will allow these links to be more easily found.
- the Site Search facility provided in the Menu shares an ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) Attribute with the Page Search function typically supported by Browsers using the ‘Ctrl F’ keyboard shortcut. Although, we are unable to change this since the browser you use is not within our control and the application providing the site search function is provided by a 3rd party.
- some older PDF documents may not be fully accessible to screen reader software.
- whilst most do, some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information, there is an ongoing programme to rectify this.
- cannot zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen, if using the pinch method to zoom in on the content (using a browser zoom-in function will allow this).
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
- There may be pages with read more /click here links. See WCAG 2.4 Success Criterion 4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context). However, whilst by default we use a relevant text string there are almost certainly a few links that do not have one but do say “click here”. Where we use “read more” it is in the context of opening up an article in full (i.e., reading more of it) rather than the initial snippet.
- There may be some pages where HTML isn’t perfectly formed, such as stray end tags. See WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing).
- Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. See WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
- Some images on the website pages may not have a text alternative, so the information on them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. See WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
When we publish new content, we’ll make sure our content and use of images meets accessibility standards.
Disproportionate burden
Given the size of the website with some 450 pages and 1900 posts, it would be a disproportionate burden to ask a part-time webmaster to resolve them all in short order. However, as pages are revisited over time they will be brought up to standard.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
There are approximately 750 PDFs and other documents on the website. it would be a disproportionate burden to ask a part-time webmaster to resolve them all in short order. However, as pages are revisited over time they will be brought up to standard. In the meantime, the webmaster uses all reasonable efforts to ensure all PDF documents published on the website are accessible.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Since 2014 we have been trying to ensure all new content being added to the site meets accessibility needs. This includes converting non-readable PDFs to readable PDFs and adding appropriate alternative text to any images. Using WordPress as a platform and a default WordPress theme ensures that in general the web content will meet accessibility guidelines.
Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared on 30th August 2023. It was last reviewed on 29th August 2023
This website was last tested on 29th August 2023. The test was carried out by our webmaster, Dave Kingaby, using the Accessibility Insights for Web tools. These tools were used on a random sample of pages, including the homepage and a random selection from different sections of the website.