This website is run by Hurst Green 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’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 aren’t fully accessible:

  • the text won’t reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • you can’t modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • you can’t skip to the main content when using a screen reader

WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN’T ACCESS PARTS OF THIS WEBSITE

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

  • email clerk@hurstgreen-pc.org.uk
  • call 01580 860111
  • write to the Clerk to the Council, The Parish Office, Hurst Green Village Hall, Station Road, Hurst Green, East Sussex, TN19 7PL

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 7 working days.

REPORTING ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEMS WITH THIS WEBSITE

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements please contact the Clerk to the Parish Council:

  • email clerk@hurstgreen-pc.org.uk
  • call 01580 860111
  • write to The Parish Office, Hurst Green Village Hall, Station Road, Hurst Green, East Sussex, TN19 7PL

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).

CONTACTING US BY PHONE OR VISITING US IN PERSON

We do not have an office that is open to the public, however Councillors and members of the Steering Group are happy to meet in person or speak on the phone. If you contact us we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. You can contact us via:

  • email clerk@hurstgreen-pc.org.uk
  • call 01580 860111
  • write to The Parish Office, Hurst Green Village Hall, Station Road, Hurst Green, East Sussex, TN19 7PL

TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WEBSITE’S ACCESSIBILITY

Hurst Green 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.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

NON ACCESSIBLE CONTENT

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

NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE ACCESSIBILITY REGULATIONS

  • accessibility problems
  • which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on
  • when you plan to fix the problem

Don’t include any problems where you’re claiming disproportionate burden, or where the problem is outside the scope of the accessibility regulations (those should go in the subsections below).]

Some images don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN

[Note: in this subsection list:

  • accessibility problems you’re claiming would be a disproportionate burden to fix
  • which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on

Bear in mind that something which is a disproportionate burden now won’t necessarily be a disproportionate burden forever. If the circumstances change, your ability to claim disproportionate burden may change too.]

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option). This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.4 (orientation).

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).

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 and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

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 when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in [rough timing].

CONTENT THAT’S NOT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE ACCESSIBILITY REGULATIONS

[Note: in this subsection list:

  • accessibility problems that fall outside the scope of the accessibility regulations
  • which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on]

PDFS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

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 September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations don’t 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 don’t plan to fix [example of non-essential document].

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

HOW WE TESTED THIS WEBSITE

This website was last tested in July 2019. The test was carried out by Parish Councillors.

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test [add link to explanation of how you decided which pages to test].

[Note: you don’t have to use this approach to sampling, but you should link to a full explanation of what you tested and how you chose it. If you get a third party auditor to test your website for you, they should include sampling details in test report – so you can just to link to that.]

We tested:

  • our main website platform, available at [url]
  • our campaign microsites, available at [url], [url] and [url]
  • [service name], [service name] and [service name] – services based on a different technical platform but ‘skinned’ to look like our website

[Note: you can have a single accessibility statement that covers multiple domains, or a separate statement for each domain or subdomain. As long as the user can access relevant accessibility information easily from any page on your website.]

You can read the full accessibility test report [add link to report].

[Note: publishing the test report is optional, but doing so may allow you to make your accessibility statement shorter and more focused.]

WHAT WE’RE DOING TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY

[Note: publishing an accessibility roadmap is optional. It’s a good idea to publish one if you want to be specific about the order you’re planning to tackle accessibility issues, and there isn’t space to do so in the accessibility statement itself.]

Our accessibility roadmap [add link to roadmap] shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

This statement was prepared on [date when it was first published]. It was last updated on [date when it was last updated].

Accessibility Statement