Accessibility Statement

PART ONE: Description

This accessibility statement applies to the website www.BaTPC.org.uk.

We aim to serve all our parishioners and recognize that some are living with some forms of limitations on ability, be that visual impairment, deafness, limitations to mobility etc.

As one form of communication with the community, our website is an area where consideration of accessibility and usability is of great importance.  
In recognition of this, several design considerations have been applied in development:-
  • Text sizes of at least 14pt (mainly 16pt and above) are used throughout.  Any isolated exceptions are made only to avoid confusion - (e.g. displacing captions from images),

  • Navigation aims to provide clear, simple signposting and grouping of information,

  • We try to use "plain language" and avoid jargon or technical terms,

  • High contrast colours are used throughout to aid visual perception and we avoid use of flashing or "gimmicky" images or elements which can be confusing,

  • A design approach using "content blocks" is used to best support modern website browser technology and screen readers,

  • The design is adaptive to differing display types and sizes.  (This technology is not infallible and there will inevitably be some device displays which are not optimal),

  • Key images are supported by hidden "Alternative Text" information which is used by many screen readers,  (This is not yet comprehensive and exceptions will be found, particularly in user submitted gallery items,

Despite these criteria, there may be parts of the website and downloadable materials, which remain problematic for some users.  In  order that we can improve please help us by letting us know the nature of any problems you encounter, at website@BaTPC.org.uk.  

Bear in mind that the website is maintained and supported by council members/ volunteers,  so responses may not be instant and not all adjustments may be possible. 


ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

Public websites are required to enable as many people as possible to use them confortably and standards are published for assessment of accessibility. 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)
Website content should also be in plain English to make it as simple as possible to understand.

Characteristics  and Limitations of the BaTPC.org.uk website
General
All main content pages of the site have been validated with a First Pass accessibility testing tool from Microsoft (Accessibility Insights) and corrective actions taken where issues have been found. As content changes we aim to make further texts and periodically recheck and correct issues.
As a result all main sections should be browsable and support accessibility aids with some exceptions indicated in the technical section below.  We plan to gradually implement more rigorous testing in respect of more detailed accessibility issues

Downloadable Documents
Most viewable and downloadable documents are provided in “pdf” format (pdf is the most widely used and flexible universal document format though exhibits some accessibility limitations). Archive documents and other material may consequently not be consistent with modern accessibility standards.  
Should you require access to documents which do not meet your needs will can often arrange to supply versions converted to other formats on request (see below)

“Events” subsystem
The area of the site which provides the events calendar is built on a proprietary system over which we do not have complete design control. Whilst we have attempted to implement good accessibility practices not all elements may be fully compliant. Event managers and club representatives are also able to manage their own events and content under this system so such elements are not under the council’s direct control and not be fully compliant.
These risks are deemed to be acceptable in the light of the value the sub-system offers.   

Gallery 
Most images used on the main content areas of the site have “Text description” elements to aid screen readers, however the gallery section contains images submitted by parishioners and photographic enthusiasts and may not include this element.  

Forms
There are some forms used within the site which may currently be difficult to navigate with keyboard alone. This is due to some limitations in the form builder technology and will be kept under review for enhancements.

Feedback and contact information
Reporting accessibility problems 
Despite our best efforts, there may be parts of the website and downloadable materials, which remain problematic for some users. In order that we can improve please help us by letting us know the nature of any problems you encounter at accessibility@BaTPC.org.uk
Please include your contact details and a description of the problem and where on the site you encountered it.

Formats
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, or specific formats, please let us know and we will do our best to help. Make you request by email to accessibility@BaTPC.org.uk or call our clerk on 01386 462380. We will try to accommodate your request and get back to you within 14 days.
If you need to contact us by phone – you can reach our Clerk on 01386 462380

Bear in mind that the website is maintained and supported by council members/ volunteers, so responses may not be instant and not all adjustments may be possible. 

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, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) (https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/).


PART TWO: Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Bishampton and Throckmorton 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.

Compliance status  of www.BaTPC.org.uk.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1(https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/) AA standard, due to ‘the non-compliances and exemptions’ listed below.
 
 

NON ACCESSIBLE CONTENT

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Whilst the Tab order is checked for blocks and traps through the pages – visual highlighting is not fully supported. Screen readers detect and report correctly, however the screen position may not be highlighted. 
    This has been raised as an issue with our website provider and we believe it will be covered in a future update
  • The navigation menu reports an additional item as an empty option. This has been raised as an issue with our website provider and we believe it will be covered in a future update
  • Some images, particularly those user submitted images in our gallery section, 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). We plan to add text alternatives for all newly submitted images as they are added and gradually replace those currently in place.



DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN 

Navigation and accessing information

  • Some text effects (e.g. emboldening) are achieved by tagging rather than through CSS. This is due to the design of the Data Host’s site technology. Correcting these characteristics individually is extremely labour intensive and is likely to be addressed en-masse with a future update of the platform technology. We will continue to review the platform and if necessary make gradual corrections over the next 18 months.
  • There is no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).
  • It is not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.
  • It is not always possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.


Interactive tools and transactions

Forms

Some of our interactive forms may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard only as we have identified that some screen readers fail to recognise the label text of options.
Our forms are built and hosted through a feature of the website host system. We have reported the issue but believe that to try to resolve the problem, outside the host system would be a disproportionate burden (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/regulation/7/made) within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
We will keep this under review for changes to our suppliers system and maintain pressure for supplier resolution.


Events sub-system

The area of the site which provides the events calendar is built on a proprietary system over which we do not have complete design control. Whilst we have attempted to implement good accessibility practices in elements we can configure, not all elements are fully compliant. 
Event managers and club representatives are also able to manage their own events and content under this system so such elements are not under the council’s direct control and may not be fully compliant.
We have considered the alternative of exploring a replacement of bespoke alternative, to overcome these issues with the subsystem and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/regulation/7/made) within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in 18 months.


PDF’s and other documents
 Some of our current PDFs and Word documents are essential to meeting our obligations for publication of information. For example, we have PDFs with information on meetings and policies, and some forms published as Word documents.
The PDF document standard is the most widely accepted and flexible document format available enabling correctly formatted documents to be interpreted by almost all platforms.  To replace all such documents with HTML versions would sacrifice universal readability but also be a disproportionate burden (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/regulation/7/made) within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
We plan to review and replace key documents with versions compliant with the accessibility standards as they go through their review cycle. Until such time as all are replaced,  we will attempt to meet any requests to provide documents in alternative formats.



CONTENT THAT IS NOT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE ACCESSIBILITY REGULATIONS

Archive PDFs and other documents
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/regulation/4/made) if they’re not essential to providing our services. As a result we do not plan to replace our archive material.
 


PART 3: Other Information

PREPARATION OF THIS ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Preparation - This statement was last reviewed and updated in May 2023.

Testing - The website was last tested on 20 August 2020. The test was carried out by a designated member of the Council.

Sampling – The approach taken for sampling was to check ALL Level one pages in the navigation menu and a sample of approximately 70% of second level pages.


CONTACT

Requests for further information can be made to by email to accessibility@BaTPC.org.uk or call our clerk on  07761 735 642. 

The same e-mail address should be used to report any accessibility problems encountered on the website or to request documents in other formats. We will try to accommodate your request and get back to you within 14 days.

Bear in mind that the website is maintained and supported by council members/ volunteers, so responses may not be instant and not all adjustments may be possible. 


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