Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for croftonparishcouncil.com

This accessibility statement applies to the website of Crofton Parish Council, using domain name croftonparishcouncil.com.

This website is run by Crofton Parish Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. That means you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

But at present you may not be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• navigate most of the website using speech recognition software

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

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Crofton 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.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 8 December 2020. It was last reviewed on 8 December 2020.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (‘WCAG’) 2.1 AA is a technical standard of website accessibility and functionality applicable to all public sector websites. Government guidance directs that where it is not possible to apply the detailed technical standards of WCAG 2.1 AA, either because an organisation does not have the necessary expertise in-house and/or because contracting with an external party would place a disproportionate burden on the organisation in terms of cost, the organisation can conduct a Basic Check following Government guidance.

Government guidance on the Basic Check directs that a representative sample of pages are selected and assessed by reference to six categories of tests as detailed therein.

Based on this, we have selected and tested a sample which includes: the site’s homepage; content pages that are mostly text based; any image, video and audio content; interactive forms; PDF documents; navigation pages, including pages with search functionality; pages containing contact information details; and pages containing legal information including terms and conditions and data protection policies, as directed by Government guidance.

How accessible this website is

Following the results of the Basic Check, we are aware that some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• users cannot skip to the main content when using the ‘Tab’ key
• when using the ‘Tab’ key, the highlighted link/document appears in the left-hand corner of the webpage in small-print, and there is no focus within the webpage on what has been tabbed which may present accessibility issues
• on the ‘News’ page the tabbing function does not move in a logical order
• the navigation bar cannot be accessed through the tabbing function
• the forms we use could be clearer on what information is required to be inputted
• the error messages for the forms we use could be more helpful in identifying any errors in user input and letting the user know how to correct the error
• when using a smartphone or tablet advice, users can only use two fingers to zoom in and there is not currently the functionality to double-tap with one finger
• it is not possible for keyboard users to tab to the home page unless you have already visited it, by using the ‘Shift’ and ‘Tab’ keys to access previous pages visited
• it is not possible for keyboard users to escape PDF documents using the ‘Tab’ or ‘Esc’ keys and therefore users may become stuck in these documents
• the ratio between text and background colour is 2:07:1 which is less than the minimum ratio required of 4:5:1
• the ratio between link text and background colour is 2:07:1 which is less than the minimum ratio required of 3:1

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Crofton Parish Council hereby confirms that it does not hold the necessary expertise to apply the detailed technical standards of WCAG 2.1 AA. Prior to its October 2020 meeting, quotes were obtained from three separate third-party providers (Web Usability, HeX Productions, Connect Internet Solutions) to conduct an accessibility audit and provide an accessibility statement. In its October 2020 meeting the Council determined that it did not have the necessary funds within its current ‘precept’ (annual budget) to satisfy any of these quotes, with any monies left in the precept already allocated to other activities and commitments. It was therefore determined that a Basic Check (or ‘layman’s check’) would be completed by Councillor Gordon and that consideration would be given to the costs of an accessibility audit and/or remediation work by a third party in future precept meetings.

As we have completed the Basic Check, we have identified any areas that may be remediated immediately and conducted this work to ensure compliance with what is required.

Any additional issues which cannot be remediated immediately have been highlighted, so they may be raised initially with our website developer, MFMedia.

Considering the contrast issues raised above, we are looking at alternatives to the following contrast colours: white text on a black/dark background; white text on a blue background and blue text on a white background.

Disproportionate Burden

Therefore, by Regulation 7(1) of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, Crofton Parish Council considers it a disproportionate burden to engage a full accessibility audit and/or conduct any further remediation work at this stage, being accessibility requirements to make a ‘’website or mobile application accessible by making it perceivable, operable, understandable and robust” by Regulation 3 thereof.

This determination includes consideration of the Council’s size and resources; cost and its impact on competing demands and commitments within the Council’s precept; and the additional benefits which would be achieved to users with a disability, considering the absence of any specific services offered to users with a disability and the already existing functionality of the website.

When the precept is considered for the new financial year (2021-2022) and in each precept meeting going forwards, the Council will make an assessment on the likely costs of a formal accessibility audit and/or any remediation work conducted by a third party and will determine whether such a cost would continue to place a disproportionate burden on the Council, considering the funds it must raise for its other activities, the purposes and commitments in each financial year, and the additional benefits which would be achieved for users with a disability.

Feedback and contact information

If you would like to access the website in a text-only format, please contact the Parish Clerk:

Email: croftonpc@gmail.com

Your enquiry will then be dealt with by the Working Party responsible for the website.

If you are looking to visit/access the Parish Centre and cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us using our ‘Contact Us’ page for directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always open to considering ways to improve the accessibility of this website, bearing in mind the Disproportionate Burden assessment above. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Parish Clerk:

Email: croftonpc@gmail.com

Your enquiry will then be dealt with by the Working Party responsible for the website.

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).