Statement of Accessibility for the Tollesbury Parish Council

This accessibility statement applies to the website of Tollesbury Parish Council.

This website is run by Tollesbury Parish Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website. For instance, this means you should be able to:

• Navigate the site with only a keyboard (Tab, Shift-Tab and Return.)
• Use of the site by screen readers
• Using proper headings, rather than just bold text
• Creating PDF files, where the source is available, as text, not images
• Inclusion of a search function
• Pages that are compatible with web browser functionality, such as zooming in and colour changes
• Avoiding popup screens
• Designing navigation so it is clear without reference to visual elements
• Avoiding non-descriptive links, for example, ‘Click Here’ or ‘More Information.’
• Including text descriptions for non-decorative images and videos (Alt text)

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 appreciate that some parts of our website may not be fully accessible:

• The text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
• You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
• Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
• You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

• Please email clerk@tollesburyparishcouncil.gov.uk
• Or call 01621 869 039

We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible. We will try to help aid your accessibility of our website where possible.

Reporting accessibility problems

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 feel free to get in touch with Mrs Michelle Curtis, Communications Officer at the Tollesbury Parish Council. She can be reached at clerk@tollesburyparishcouncil.gov.uk

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

Tollesbury 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.

Compliance status

This website is compliant with the partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A standard, and is partially comliant with level AA standard,  due to the non-compliances listed below:

• Limited contrast errors
• Older PDF documents which are not fully accessible

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:

• Website design preference
• Uneditable content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2021. When we publish new content, we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Website page – Documents – This page is not compliant, The error relates to a filter of a plug-in which cannot be changed.

Disproportionate burden

Navigation and accessing information

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using only a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment with our supplier contract at some point in the third quarter of 2021.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

We will endeavour to many any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Third Party Content

Some of the documents on this site are provided by others. The format of these documents is outside the control of the Council.

Web Browser Features

All up to date, mainstream, web browsers include accessibility features within the browser. These include features such as changing the colours and the font sizes.

Most personal computer browsers on Windows and on Apple Mac OS, support keyboard commands to zoom the browser in and out:

Zoom In

[Ctrl/Command]+

(hold down control key and press plus or scroll wheel)

Zoom Out

[Ctrl/Command]-

(hold down control key and press minus or scroll wheel)

Reset to normal zoom

[Ctrl/Command]0

(hold down control key and press zero)

The following are instructions for some of the more popular web browsers and computers. They show how to adjust configurations to view web pages to suit your needs:

• Apple Mac Accessibility
• Google Chrome Accessibility
• Microsoft Edge Accessibility
• Microsoft Internet Explorer Accessibility
• Mozilla Firefox Accessibility
• Opera Accessibility

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was published on 14th April 2021.

An audit of the website was carried out by an independent assessor in February 2021 using various tools, including AXE, WAVE, Lighthouse and accessibility test tools. The report was reviewed by an independent contractor, required actions were taken, and a follow-up audit was carried out by the assessor in July 2021.

The Aceessibility Statement was reviewed by the Finance & Policy Committee at their meeting on 12th March 2024.

Unless there are any significant chnages to the website, the Accessibility Statement will be reveiwed annually. Next review: March 2025.