Fernhurst Parish Council Accessibility Policy

 This website is run by Fernhurst 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:

• 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; and,
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have also  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 content uploaded to this website is not fully accessible:

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
• some external audit documents are not accessible; and,
• live video streams (where published) might not have captions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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

What to do if you cannot 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 please contact us by one of the following ways:

• email the clerk clerk@fernhurst-pc.gov.uk
• call the office on 01428 661 150
• writing to, or visit us at: The Parish Office, Glebe Road, Fernhurst GU27 3EH.

We will look at how we can deliver your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

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

If you require special arrangements to be made for us to communicate with you please contact us and we will try to arrange for the necessary resources to be made available.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Fawley 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 framework is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. Some content is partially compliant, due to the non-compliances listed below:

Non accessible content

Some pages may contain attachments which are not currently compliant, such as:

• Older PDF files such as Meeting Minutes and Agendas published before 23rd September 2020;
• Videos; and,
• 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.

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).

When we publish new content we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

We have not identified any areas that we believe constitute a disproportionate burden.

Content that’s 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 older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

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. However we are working hard to ensure compliance of all of our documents that were produced before the launch of this website .

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. Where possible, we will fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

Any new PDFs or Word documents created by us will meet accessibility standards.

If you have specific document requirements and we will endeavour to provide these to you in an appropriate format.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested in January 2024. Tests were carried out and a sample of our pages by both internal systems and our website provider, Working the Greener Way - Online.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to improve accessibility on this website by addressing non-compliance issues (where possible) in a continuous improvement method.

We will provide staff training to ensure that all new content added meets accessibility criteria.

We also run  quarterly reports to identify and address accessibility issues.