Accessibility

1) Introduction

Website URL: http://www.lowerwashburnpc.co.uk/

This website is run by Lower Washburn Parish Council. We are classified as a ‘Smaller Authority’, with accounts of less than £25,000 per year. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, for example, that means you should be able to:

1.1) change colours, contrast levels and fonts

1.2) zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen

1.3) navigate most of the website using just a keyboard

1.4) navigate most of the website using speech recognition software

1.5) listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

1.6) find information in difficult to navigate tables within a text block or other accessible format on the same page

We’ve also made sure the website text is simple to understand and as informative as possible.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

2) How accessible this website is

From the tests that we have undertaken, 135 (100%) of checks were available in total, 28 (21%) were not applicable to a website such as ours with its limited content and functionality, 102 (75%) of available tests were performed, of which 5 (5%) failed. The parts that are not fully accessible are thus:

2.1) the Language Tag/Attribute is not present to indicate the site is presented in English

2.2) you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text

2.3) most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software, and some contain scans

2.4) you cannot ‘skip to the main content’ when using a screen reader

2.5) Some Headings do not contain the correct coding, and can be mistaken for links in screen readers

3) What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, etc then please contact the Parish Clerk:

Mr. Mike Elam, 10 Hawthorne Grove, Burley in Wharfedale, Ilkley, LS29 7RF

Telephone 01943 864312

Email lowerwashburnpc@hotmail.co.uk

We will consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

4) 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 sufficiently meeting accessibility requirements, contact: The Clerk, lowerwashburnpc@hotmail.co.uk giving the page title and the nature of the problem.

5) 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 comments or complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)

6) Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Lower Washburn 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 partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below

6.1) Operable, Navigable, Bypass Blocks

Microsoft Accessibility for the Web (REPETITIVE CONTENT)

Success Criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A): A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages.

The HTML coding in Google Sites (Classic) does not allow for customised code to be added to the header section of the page, which is where the ‘Skip To Main Content’ attribute is required to reside.

ACTION PLAN:

We will consider possible solutions within the ‘disproportionate burden’ process and decide if/when we will be able to meet this requirement.

ALTERNATIVE:

There is no alternative, and therefore screen readers will read out the common content at the top of each web page, before moving on to the main content.

6.2) Operable, Navigable, Link Purpose (in context)

Microsoft Accessibility for the Web (LINKS)

Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose(In Context) (Level A): The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context, except where the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general.

ACTION PLAN:

We will consider possible solutions within the ‘disproportionate burden’ process and decide if/when we will be able to meet this requirement.

ALTERNATIVE:

We have set all the Heading text on our web pages to reflect their order of importance (level) so as to be consistent across all pages, and to comply with other requirements of accessibility, however until a solution is found to correctly labelling the attribute in question, the problem will remain.

6.3) Understandable, readable, language of page

Microsoft Accessibility for the Web (AUTOMATED)

Success Criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A): The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined.

The HTML coding in Google Sites (Classic) does not allow for customised code to be added to the header section of the page, which is where the ‘Language’ attribute is required to reside.

ACTION PLAN:

We will consider possible solutions within the ‘disproportionate burden’ process and decide if/when we will be able to meet this requirement.

ALTERNATIVE:

As our website does not contain any content written in a language other than English, we would advise any non-english speaking visitor, who depends on the contents of our website for the services and information that it provides, to set their browser/reader to translate from English in to their native language.

6.4) Robust, Compatible, (Link Function) Name-Role-Value

Microsoft Accessibility for the Web (LANGUAGE)

Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A): For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to these items is available to user agents, including assistive technologies.

The HTML coding in Google Sites (Classic) does not allow the correct labelling of the ‘Text Heading’ anchor attributes, and therefore screen readers may interpret certain text-headings as being active links.

ACTION PLAN:

We will consider possible solutions within the ‘disproportionate burden’ process and decide if/when we will be able to meet this requirement.

ALTERNATIVE:

We have set all the Heading text on our web pages to reflect their order of importance (level) so as to be consistent across all pages, and to comply with other requirements of accessibility, however until a solution is found to correctly labelling the attribute in question, the problem will remain.

7) Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

You can view a full list of exceptions defined under the regulations

7.1) PDF’s and other documents

Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A): For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to these items is available to user agents, including assistive technologies.

Many of our older PDF’s and/or Word documents do not meet this accessibility standard, for example, they may not be structured so they’re completely accessible to a screen reader.

Some of our PDFs and/or Word documents are essential to providing our services and informing the public. For example, we have PDF’s with information about our meetings, finances, policies and procedures, however some of these documents contain scanned images which cannot be read by screen readers.

ACTION PLAN:

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 unless they are considered essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs and/or Word documents we publish will meet the new accessibility standards. We will continue to convert all PDF’s created since 23 September 2018 in to the new format.

ALTERNATIVE:

If you have any problems reading our documents please contact the Parish Clerk, as detailed in Section (3)

8) How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 17th August 2020. The test was carried out by ourselves. We have used a process recommended by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), in their document Website Accessibility Requirements, received in June 2020.

We have made use of Microsoft’s Accessibility Insights for the Web assisted technologies package

We decided to test all of our pages and not just a sample

We tested on our website platform, available at http://www.lowerwashburnpc.co.uk/

9) What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have adopted a new business process for Accessibility, and created an Action Plan, as set out in this Accessibility Statement.

Going forwards, the Council will, at intervals:

9.1) publish this Accessibility Statement on its website

9.2) consider the cost-benefits of solutions to those areas that only partially compliant, as shown in Section (6)

9.3) consider producing an alternative ‘text only’ version of its website

9.4) continue to be alert for advancements in accessibility technologies and website solutions

9.5) re-test the website against the latest regulations

9.6) ensure that Accessibility, as a project, is placed on our formal business agenda

10) Mitigation

As a ‘Smaller Authority’ (any Parish Council with an annual budget of less than £25,00), we are required to continually weigh the costs and benefits of our projects against our limited resources. We will persist in making improvements where , by using the disproportionate burden process, it is decided the project is feasible.

Mike Elam, Clerk to the Council