How This Site Is Built to Be Used by Everybody

The standard we work to, and what we are not claiming

The target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, at Level AA. That is the level most public bodies and most large organizations work to, and it is a sensible bar for a small local site to hold itself to.

Working to a standard and conforming to it are two different statements, and we are only making the first one. This site has not been through a formal accessibility audit, holds no certificate, and we are not going to publish a compliance score. Anyone who tells you a website is fully accessible on the strength of an automated scan is describing a tool's output, not a person's experience of using the page.

We would rather set out what has been done and what has not than print a claim we cannot stand behind.

What has been built into these pages

None of the following is remarkable. It is what a page should do, and it is listed because a list is something you can check us against.

• Headings that describe the structure of the page rather than its styling, in order
• Menus that can be opened, moved through and closed with a keyboard alone
• A visible focus outline, so you can always see where you are on the page
• Text and background colors checked against the WCAG contrast ratios
• Text alternatives on images that carry information
• Form labels tied to their inputs, so a screen reader announces the right field
• No meaning carried by color alone, so a warning still reads as a warning
• Reduced motion preferences respected, with animation dropped when you ask for that
• Text that resizes without losing the layout or hiding content
• Link text written to make sense out of context, rather than click here

What has not been tested, said plainly

Full conformance cannot be established from markup alone. It needs manual testing with real assistive technology, screen readers on more than one platform, magnification, voice control and switch access, and review by somebody who does this work professionally. This site has not been through that process.

So there will be things we have got wrong, and the likeliest places are the ones with the most going on: a long table read across by a screen reader, a form error announced in an unhelpful order, or a focus position that jumps somewhere unexpected after a menu closes.

If you hit one of those, you are not doing it wrong and it is worth telling us. A specific report from somebody actually using assistive technology is more useful to us than another automated scan.

Embedded content we do not control

Some pages include content served by another company, a map being the obvious example. Those embeds bring their own markup, their own keyboard behavior and their own contrast decisions, and we cannot change them from our end.

Where an embed appears, the same information is available as plain text on the same page: the address written out, a phone number, hours in text. If you find a place where the embed is the only route to something you need, that is a fault on our side and we want to hear about it.

Reporting a barrier, and getting a page read to you

The fastest route is the phone. Call the number at the top of any page, say which page you were on and what happened, and you get a person rather than a form to fill in.

Two things follow. We will fix it if we can, and tell you honestly if we cannot or if it will take a while. And in the meantime we will give you the content over the phone: a whole page read out, a range explained, an inspection booked, a form completed on your behalf while you are on the line.

You never have to use this website to get service. Anything on any page here can be handled in a phone call instead, and asking for that is not an inconvenience to anybody.