Accessibility Statement for www.greatashbycouncil.org
This website is run by Great Ashby Community Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• 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 have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
How Accessible this Website is
We know some content uploaded to this website is not fully accessible:
• PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• 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
• live stream videos do not have captions
• 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
• there is a limit to how far you can magnify the map on our “contact us” page
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 clerk@greatshbycommunitycouncil.org.uk
• write to us at: Great Ashby Community Council c/o Great Ashby Community Centre, Whitehorse Lane, Great Ashby, Stevenage SG1 6NH
We will consider your request and get back to you in 20 working days. If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, please email us for directions
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:
Great Ashby Community Council
c/o Great Ashby Community Centre,
Whitehorse Lane,
Great Ashby,
Stevenage
SG1 6NH
Email: clerk@greatashbycommunitycouncil.org.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
The Great Ashby Community 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 framework is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-Accessible Content
Some pages may contain attachments which are not currently compliant, such as:
• PDF files
• Content produced by third parties or using third party software.
Non-Compliance with the Accessibility Regulations
We will do all we can to identify content that is non-compliant.
• Maps displayed by Google Maps – we do not control how Google Maps displays information, but where possible we provide addresses within the web page’s text (via HTML). When Google makes their map output accessible, we will update our technology accordingly.
• Pictures of event or information posters, when provided by a third party – where possible we provide the information from the picture, within the web page’s text (via HTML). We will encourage all providers of these pictures to provide accessible alternatives in future.
• 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 will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
• All PDF files are not in an accessible format, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. We plan to replace all Minutes from 23rd September 2018 and all Great Ashby Community Council policies and Budgets with alternatives by December 2021.
Disproportionate Burden
Navigation and Accessing Information
• There is no way to skip the repeated content in the page header
• It is not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content
• It is not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping
Interactive Tools and Transaction
Maps displayed by Google Maps – we do not control how Google Maps displays information, but where possible we provide addresses within the web page’s text (via HTML). When Google makes their map output accessible, we will update our technology accordingly
Content that is Not within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations
PDFs and other documents
Not all documents on this website are created by us. Some documents and content may be created by third parties or using third party software. Where this is the case we will endeavour, on request, to obtain an accessible copy from the original source or to convey the information contained in the document in an accessible way.
Many of our PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2. The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix Minutes for meetings which were published prior to 23 September 2018.
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. By December 2021, where possible, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
Any new PDFs or Word documents created by us will meet accessibility standards.
What We are Doing to Improve Accessibility
We plan to improve accessibility on this website by addressing non-compliance issues (where possible) by September 2021.
We will provide staff training to ensure that all new content added meets accessibility criteria.
We also run monthly and quarterly reports to identify and address accessibility issues.
Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared on 16 March 2020.
It was last updated on 25 August 2021.
How we Tested this Website
This website was last tested in September 2022. Tests were carried out by both internal systems and our website provider, Aubergine 262.