Accessibility statement
This website is run by Escrick 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 200% 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
We’ve also tried to make the website text simple 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 parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- some older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
- historic minutes prior to 2004 are only available as scanned versions of typed or hand-written originals.
- some content, in particular maps, are only available in a visual format. The colours and contract of maps cannot be changed as these are provided by third parties.
- The ‘notices section’ of the website contains notices provided by third parties. These may not use simple language and may rely upon images.
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 the Clerk using the details given on the Contact Page.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
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:
- Please contact the website administrator using the details given on the Contact Page
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 contact us via phone.
You can contact us via email, including for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
We do not have any offices, however we can make arrangements to meet in person at the Village Hall or other suitable premises within the Parish if required.
Find out how to contact us at our contact details page.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Escrick 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 is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Our testing has not identified any non-compliance with the accessibility regulations. (Although some areas are not accessible, these are covered by Disproportionate Burden provision or are out of scope of the accessibility regulations)
Disproportionate burden
Minutes prior to 2004 are only available as scanned images of the typed or handwritten originals. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We have no plans to remedy this, as use of these documents is limited.
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment by no later than December 2022.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Old documents
Many of our older PDFs 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. We do not consider that any of these older documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix historic minutes recorded prior to 23 September 2018.
Any new PDFs documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Third party notices
Notices not originating from the Parish Council may 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 encourage persons providing content for the Notices page to provide content in an accessible manner. However, we will continue to publish notices received even without accessible versions.
How we tested this website
This website was last tested during December 2019. The test was carried out by Escrick Parish Council.
We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test:
- Pages that are essential for accessing and navigating our website;
- Pages that contain information and documents that the Parish Council has a statutory obligation to publish: Including minutes and agendas, policies and financial statements, contact details.
We tested:
- Our homepage available at www.escrickparishcouncil.gov.uk
- Contact details page.
- Minutes and agendas page.
- Policies and documents page.
- Common questions page.
This testing included:
- Using Microsoft’s Accessibility Insights for Web tool to undertake:
- 49 point automated check
- 24 point manual review
- Tested with Apple Voiceover
- Tested with Nu HTML checker
- Reviewed against Gov.uk content guidelines
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are ensuring that anyone that publishes content on our website is aware of the importance of accessibility. We will guide them on the approach to take to ensure accessibility.
We will use PDF/A format for all new statutory documents such as agendas, minutes and policies.
As the underlying technology and code of the website is updated, we will seek to address any residual technical and code issues.
This statement was prepared on 23rd December 2019. It was last updated on 23rd December 2019