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Alkham Parish Council

Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement

Alkham Parish Council Accessibility Statement.

This accessibility statement applies to the Alkham Parish Council Website alkhamparishcouncil.org.uk

This website is run by Alkham 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
  • 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have 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 this website is.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. These issues are described in detail in the ‘Non-accessible content’ section of this statement.

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:

● Email: [email protected]                     

We will consider your request and get back to you in 15 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:

Irene Bowie

Parish Clerk

Email: [email protected]

● Write to:     Alkham Parish Council

                    c/o Pollyfield Cottage, Scragged Oak Road. Detling Kent ME14 3HD

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.

Alkham 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 partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances and exemptions are listed below.

Non-accessible content.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations.

The privacy policy link in the footer, the share link in the sidebar content, and dropdown menu icons when viewed in certain high contrast modes all create contrast issues. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast Minimum (AA) and 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (AA). We do not have control over these elements and have raised this issue with Hugh Fox.

The various social media links are not clearly described for screen readers and some links on the privacy policy page are presented as a full URL. These fail WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A). We do not have control over these elements and have raise this issue with Hugh Fox.

Within the Sign up for Email Alerts popup there is a selection of checkboxes which allow users to select what kinds of emails they would like to receive. These have a label to explain what the checkboxes are for, but this is not read out for screen reader users when they first tab to the checkboxes. This fails WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A). We do not have control over these elements and have raise this issue with Hugh Fox.

Disproportionate burden.

At this time, we have made no claims of disproportionate burden.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations.

Portable Document Format (PDF) and other documents.

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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. For example, we do not plan to fix historical council meeting minute documents published before 23rd September 2018.

Some of the PDFs we publish are statutory requirements. We receive these in a locked format that we have no control over but must publish. The regulations provide an exemption for such 3rd party documents.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

We are in the process of converting all documents from September 2018 to ensure that they meet the regulations, the most recent documents have been prioritised, if you require a copy of any documents that do not yet meet the regulations, please contact the Parish Clerk, who will ensure that you receive a copy of the converted document as soon as possible.

Planning Tracker.

This website uses a Planning tracker plugin which connects to the local Borough Council Planning information. Alkham Parish Council neither funds, has control of or developed this service and so claims exemption for 3rd party content.

Focus indication is lost when moving through the navigation menu and on some links on the Planning Tracker Page. This fails WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA).

User input fields on the Planning Tracker refine options are not correctly labelled. This fails WCAG 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (AA) and 3.3.2 Labels and Instructions (A).

Online Maps.

Maps that are present on our website and are not used for navigational purposes are exempt under the regulations. We use several maps to show planning or other geographical information.  If users require an accessible alternative to this information, please contact us.

3rd Party Content.

There are sections of the website that are provided by the supplier which the Council has no control over, did not develop and does not pay for, as the website is provided at no charge to the Council.

What we are doing to improve accessibility.

Alkham Parish Council is working with the website supplier Hugo Fox to resolve accessibility issues on the website.