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Accessibility statement

Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

The Regulations came into force on 23 September 2018 and implement the EU Directive on the accessibility of websites and mobile apps of public sector bodies. The purpose is to improve the accessibility of public sector websites (including Parish Council sites) so that they can be used by as many people as possible – this builds on the existing obligations to disabled people under the Equality Act 2010 and the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.


Accessibility Statement for Stoke Parish Council Website

This website is run by Stoke Parish Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. 

The website layout and text has been made as simple as possible to understand. Visitors should be able to navigate the website using just a mouse, mouse pointer and keyboard. The government has produced an excellent guide for disabled computer users. This can be found at AbilityNet (https://mcmw.abilitynet.org.uk/) It has detailed advice on making your device easier to use. 

This covers such things as making your screen images and text larger, using a text reader to convert text to sound, using Voice Recognition to control your computer, increasing mouse pointer sizes etc. etc.


Technical Information about this website’s accessibility

Stoke Parish Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance withthe 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 (https://www.w3.TR.WCAG21/)AA standard. Following a detailed examination of our website’s features against the detailed government checklist we have identified some areas where we are not fully compliant

  • It is not possible to navigate the website purely by keyboard
  • There is only one way to find content (i.e. no search engine)
  • ARIA* (see below for definition) markup has not been used
  • Where extra content is shown or hidden on focus, it cannot be dismissed, interacted with (and not disappear when the user moves to it) and does not stay visible until dismissed by the user.

These items have been discussed with our Website designers who are currently working on a rebuild which will incorporate ARIA markup standards and make us fully compliant.

How we tested this website.

The website was tested on 15th December 2020. The test was carried out by Stoke Parish Council. We used the WCAG2.1 level AA Primer published by Gov.UK as our checklist.

What to do if you cannot access part of this website:

If you need information on this website in a different format like PDF, large print etc. please contact:

Jenny Allen

50 Pepys Way

Strood

Rochester

ME2 3LL

We will consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days. If you cannot view the map on our ‘Contact us’ page, please contact for direction


Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our website. If you find any problems that are not already listed, or you think we are not meeting the accessibility requirements, contact the Parish Clerk:

Jenny Allen

50 Pepys Way

Strood

Rochester

ME2 3LL

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) ( https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/). This statement was prepared on 30th December 2020 by Stoke parish Council.

* Definition of ARIA:

WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite, defines a way to make Web content and Web applications more accessible to people with disabilities. It especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with Ajax, HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies. Currently, certain functionality used in Web sites is not available to some users with disabilities, especially people who rely on screen readers and people who cannot use a mouse. WAI-ARIA addresses these accessibility challenges, for example, by defining new ways for functionality to be provided to assistive technology. With WAI-ARIA, developers can make advanced Web applications accessible and usable to people with disabilities.