Accessibility statement for Farningham Parish Council
This accessibility statement applies to the Farningham Parish Council Website:
https://www.farninghamparishcouncil.org/
This Website is run by Farningham Parish Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this Website. To aid accessibility the Website includes the following accessibility features:
- Ability to change colours, contrast levels and fonts - This Website is controlled by a cascading stylesheet. If there is an aspect of the design you would like to change, such as the colours, you may apply your own stylesheet locally in your Internet browser.
- Change the size of text throughout the Website - You can increase or decrease the size of the Website text using your browsers zoom settings.
- 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
- Headings and descriptions used throughout the Website
- Alt tags describing the contents of images have been used throughout
- The use of tables is avoided throughout
For the best experience, when viewed on a mobile device we recommend turning the device on its side (i.e. landscape mode).
Access keys
The Website uses a small number of Access Keys to aid keyboard navigation. Access Keys are keyboard shortcuts, intended to help users who have difficulty using pointing devices such as a mouse. This provides an extra way to navigate the site. Access keys are normally selected by pressing 'Alt and the relevant key together followed by the 'Enter' key.
Alt + 0 = Access key details
(this page)
Alt + 1 = Site homepage
Alt + 3 = Sitemap
Alt + S = Skip navigation
Alt + T = Top of page
To choose a link on the page, use the tab key to cycle through the links. Pressing return will access the selected link.
How accessible Is this Website?
We know some parts of this Website may not be fully accessible
- Sliding image galleries may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard
- We are aware that sometimes there can be an issue with pages that contain multiple images when viewed on some types of mobile device.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format, please contact:
Email: mailto:clerk@farninghampc.co.uk
Telephone: 01322 866066
We will consider your request and undertake to reply to you within 14 days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this Website
We have a programme of continuous improvement for this Website which includes 'Accessibility'. If you encounter any 'accessibility' issues no matter how great or small that are not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Parish Clerk:
Email: mailto:clerk@farninghampc.co.uk
Telephone: 01322 866066
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).
Technical information about this Website's accessibility
Farningham 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 has been checked by a competent specialist and improvements made to aid compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. Website editors have been provided with training to improve the accessibility of content added to the site.
Whilst most elements fully comply, the Site is judged to be partially compliant due to the following non-compliances and exemptions.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
- Limitations to the keyboard navigation of sliding image galleries. Our Website provider plans to improve this in future software releases
- We are aware that sometimes there can be an issue with pages that contain multiple images when viewed on some types of mobile device.
- Content is constantly added to the Website and despite training, in some cases, through human error we may miss certain criteria. We will do our best to pick this up and make corrections.
Disproportionate burden
We are a small Parish Council with extremely limited resources and some processes that we would otherwise aspire to are financially out of our reach. For example, we do not have the resources to undertake professional testing of this Website nor can we produce a version in Braille.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018.
The principle PDF documents to be found on this Site are Agenda's and Minutes of Council Meetings, Reports for the Trident Magazine, and various regulatory documents. The earliest date for which documents can be accessed is 1st. January 2019 and from this point all of our documents have been created to be fully accessible within Microsoft Word and then converted to PDF's using the Accessibility Suite and Checker within Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
So far as we are aware the only PDF document linked from this site that is not fully Accessible is Sevenoaks District Council's Farningham Conservation Area Appraisal. It was created in December 2003 and is therefore outside the scope of these regulations.
What we are doing to improve accessibility
We are working with our Website supplier to better understand the accessibility implications of our Website and address issues that are present. This process includes the aspiration that we will have checked every page of this Website by the time that this Statement is next reviewed on 31st March 2021.
This testing will generate a programme changes and improvements, as required, which will be available on request.
Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared on 31st. August 2020. It was last reviewed on 31st. August 2020 and will be updated on 31st March 2021. It was prepared by a Council Volunteer who has undertaken the Society of Local Council Clerks' 'Preparing to Meet Website Accessibility Guidelines', training modules.
A sample of the Site pages were tested, and advice sought from our provider, Spectulise Ltd. to assist in improving the Website's accessibility.
