Accessibility information

This statement applies solely to content published on the www.saughall.gov.uk domain.

The website is designed to be used (a) as a basic information service for residents living within the boundaries of Saughall and Shotwick Park Parish Council*, (b) as an archive for Parish Council documents including meeting minutes, accounts, and policy statements and (c) as a host for material of more general interest to both residents and non-residents, such as photographs and historical material.

* The website is only one of several information sources the Parish Council uses to communicate with parishioners. There are also:

• 4 Council notice boards around the village (Egerton Arms bus-stop, Vernon Institute, Co-Op Store, Jubilee Park) plus specific postings at individual houses and shops
• A detailed Parish Council newsletter, with copies placed in the Co-Op Store, every three months
• Facebook postings and Twitter feed

The text is designed to be clear and simple to understand and the navigation easy to follow. It has been designed using the WordPress Style Template “Light of Peace”, with documents included and downloadable as PDF files. The user can:

• navigate the website using a mouse or just a keyboard (using ‘tab’) on a computer or mobile phone, or by touch using a tablet or smartphone
• use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
• use most of the website using speech recognition software

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

How accessible this website is

When the website was designed in 2010 the issue of accessibility was followed to guidelines of that time as regards to layout, colour contrast and navigability within the adopted style template.

However it is recognised that some parts of this website are not fully accessible to current guidelines. For example:

• some documents include graphics such as pie charts
• some images are not described by accompanying text
• some images do not have good alternative text
• some older documents created in earlier versions of PDF may not be accessible by all browsers or accessibility software in all circumstances

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We continue our efforts to constantly improve the accessibility of this website and services in the belief that it is our collective moral obligation to allow seamless accessible and unhindered use including to those with disabilities.

Despite our efforts to make all pages and content on this website fully accessible, some content may not be fully adapted to the strictest accessibility standards. This may be a result of us not having found or identified the most appropriate technological solution.

If you experience difficulty with accessing any content or require assistance with any part of our site, please contact us and we will be happy to assist. If you need information in a different format, we will endeavour to provide it for you within 7 days if we reasonably can.

You should contact the Clerk to the Parish Council at [email protected] giving details of:

• the web address (URL) or a clear description of the content you require
• your name and email address
• the format in which you need the information, for example, audio CD, braille, BSL or large print, accessible PDF

If you find any problems that are not listed within this statement or you think we are not meeting the accessibility requirements, contact the Clerk to the Parish Council at [email protected] giving a clear description of the issue.

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you’re not happy with our response you may contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

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’).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Parish Council is committed to making its website as accessible as possible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. The website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

However the regulations allow the Council certain exemptions such as:

• Heritage collections of scanned documents, photographs and maps
• PDFs and other content published prior to 23rd September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services.

Additionally the legislation permits certain exemptions when to correct these would impose a disproportionate burden. The template used for creating this website has forced a number of minor issues of accessibility which can only be changed by creating bespoke script or by transferring the whole site to another template. The Parish Council does not accept that the benefit of spending several thousands of pounds is appropriate for the very small number of users that might come across these minor issues (since commissioning the website in 2010 no such issue has been raised by any user). The Council has put measures in place to address any such issue raised on an individual basis.

How we tested this website

This website was tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, and these tests have been carried out internally by the use of the Microsoft Accessibility Insights package, using the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We monitor all new content being posted on the website for conformity to the regulations. This statement was prepared on 5th September 2020. It will be updated annually or earlier if applicable.