Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Lawley and Overdale Parish Council (LOPC) website, on the https://lawleyoverdale-pc.gov.uk/ domain.

This website is run by Lawley and Overdale 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.

Things that work well

We have made efforts to make this website as accessible as we can.

  • Alternative text has been supplied with all non-decorative images uploaded since November 2019, or images have been marked as ‘decorative’ where appropriate.
  • The website design is responsive, enabling you to zoom with reflow up to 300%
  • We have a ‘skip to content’ tab function
  • Content has a contrast ratio of 15.36:1, and is viewable when the contrast is reversed
  • The website can be navigated with a keyboard
  • On content added since April 2020, links are distinct from each other, and their purpose can be identified from the text
  • Headings are structured logically
  • Articles published since April 2020 strive to use simple language and avoid jargon
  • All non-live video content since February 2021 now has closed captioning and/or a transcript
  • The new Full Council meeting minutes template, used since July 2021, adheres to accessibility standards

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Some images uploaded before November 2019 do not have text alternatives (‘alt-text’)
  • Some older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • On some pages created before April 2020, the purpose of links cannot be determined from the link text alone

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:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in five working days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

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, contact: Sharon George, clerk@lawleyoverdale.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’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

You can call us on 01952 507865. Our office is located at Leonard Smith House, Unit 2, West Centre Way, Lawley, Telford, TF3 5HT.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Lawley and Overdale 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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 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

Images

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).

We plan to add text alternatives for all non-decorative images by September 2023, or mark images as decorate where appropriate. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Some images contain text, so people with dyslexia or using a screen reader will not be able to read the information. This does not meet WCAG success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of Text). We plan to resolve this issue by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Links

On some pages, the same link text is used for different link destinations. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context). We plan to resolve this issue by September 2023. When we publish new pages, we will make sure link text meets accessibility standards.

On some pages, the purpose of each link cannot be determined from the link text alone. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context). We plan to resolve this issue by September 2023. When we publish new pages, we will make sure link text meets accessibility standards.

Tables

On some pages, tables do not have a description set using the caption element. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships. We plan to resolve this issue by September 2023. When we publish new tables, we will make sure they meet accessibility standards.

HTML

On some pages HTML is used to format content rather than CSS. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Information and Relationships.

Disproportionate burden

Full Council meeting minutes and papers

Monthly Full Council meeting minutes and papers are available dating back at least seven years. These documents do not always use simple language, and do not use proper heading structures.

Interactive tools

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.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with Full Council meeting minutes and papers, and with interactive tools. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. However, all meeting minutes published from now on use a new, accessible template.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

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. For example, we do not plan to fix obsolete Committee membership documents.

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

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

All current and future content will be published with accessibility in mind. We periodically review older content to bring it up to date, although old articles (such as news items prior to 2020) will not be revisited. We are always working to upgrade our systems for better accessibility when we can.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 16 September 2022.

This website was last tested on 13 September 2022. The test was carried out in-house.

We tested all of main pages, such as the homepage and governance sections, and a sampling of news articles. We used accessibility tools such as WAVE Evaluation Tool, WCAG Luminosity Contrast Ratio Analyzer (to test contrast ratios), HeadingsMap (to test heading structure), and ChromeVox (to test compatibility with screen readers) to test how the site performed for people with impairments.