Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.blackwellpc.org.uk

This website is run by Blackwell Parish Council, using the web builder supplied by www.names.co.uk. We want as many people as possible 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 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'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 this website is:

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
• some of our online forms are difficult to navigate;
• you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader;
• we haven't included a map on our 'contact us' page because Google Maps cannot locate our properties accurately.

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, e-mail admin@blackwellpc.org.uk and we will consider your request and get back to you in thirty days.

We haven't included an interactive map on our 'contact us' page because Google Maps cannot locate our community centres accurately. If you require directions to either of our offices, please use the contact information on our 'contact us' page.

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, please contact the Admin Assistant, Becky Huckerby, via e-mail: admin@blackwellpc.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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Services (EASS).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Blackwell Parish Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (website 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, due to the non-compliances and exemptions below.

Non-accessible content:

New documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be accessible.

We know that some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2013) are not accessible. For example, some of them:

• are not tagged properly - for example, they do not contain heading structure
• are not written in plain English
• include complex tables

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations:

• Visual indicators need adding to text;
• Some of the pictures used for decoration have alt text;
• forms for contacting us are difficult to navigate

Disproportionate burden:

We hope to work on all issues mentioned before accessing whether there is a disporportionate 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);
• Visial indicators need adding to text:
• Need to add landmarks

Interactive tools and transactions

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

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software...

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 information.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23rd September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix copies of pervious council documents such as the ones found on our council documents archive page.

We intend that any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessiblity standards.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

Preparation of this accessiblity statement

This statement was prepared on 22/09/2020. It was last reviewed on 17/02/2020.

This website was last tested during February 2021. The test was carried out by Blackwell Parish Council using axe Beta.

We decided on a sample of pages to test by using pages with the most varied content:

• home page;
• Your Parish Council;
• Book a Community Centre

Issues raised and notes on response:

• Page titles missing - added on all pages 17/02/2021
• Image with text in footer - removed and replaced with just text 17/02/2021
• Empty headings  - removed all found 17/02/2021
• Heading levels need checking - checked and altered where applicable 17/02/2021
• Main landmarks missing - contacted provider for guidance 17/02/2021
• Content to be contained by landmarks - contacted provider for guidance - 17/02/2021
• Zooming on mobile devices - contacted provider for guidance 17/02/2021
• Decorative images  with non-empty alt attributes - contacted provider for guidance 17/02/2021

Issues to be continually monitored, with the aim for investigations (resulting from the February testing) into the viability of rectifications, to be complete by the end of August 2021

August 2021 - The website host (Names.co.uk) has confirmed that their system is not able to provide solutions to the remaining points on the issues raised by axe Beta.

One possible solution suggested was to install an overlay that would enable users to alter text properties, but it doesn't help with landmarks and is costly.

We will continue to monitor the accessibility of this website in conjuction with any updates Names make to their hosting abilities.

Update: 17th August 2022 The admin assistant Becky is going to be undertaking accessibility training on 16th November 2022 (soonest possible training available) to extend and updated accessibility knowledge. This will lead to a check on the compliance and accessibility of the website and making any identified changes that are needed/possible to improve our website.

Update: 27th March 2024 The admin assistant Becky has undertaken two accessibility tests using the websites  https://wave.webaim.org and www.accessibilitychecker.org. The changes that have been identified on here such as ensuring there is a concise alternative text for each image, are being worked through to improve the accessibility of our website. This process is being documented and will be shared once complete on here. At the end of 2025 it will be considered whether to stay with Names (that we use now) or whether another provider will offer better accessibility options.