Accessible documents at Cholsey Parish Council

This policy explains how accessible the documents Cholsey Parish Council publishes on GOV.UK are. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement will cover that.

Using our documents

Cholsey Parish Council publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDF, images, and links to external sites.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:

• provide an HTML option where possible
• tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure
• make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they’re there for
• avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data
• write in plain English

How accessible our documents are

New documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be fully accessible.

However, we know that some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible. For example, some of them:

• are just photocopies and are not marked up in a way that allows screen reader users to understand them
• are not tagged up properly – for example, they do not contain proper headings
• are not written in plain English

This mostly applies to our Neighbourhood Plan and associated documents. These types of documents are exempt from the regulations, so we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible.

But if you need to access information in one of these document types, you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.

What to do if you cannot use one of our documents

If you need a document we’ve published in a different format:

• email clerk@cholseyparishcouncil.gov.uk
• call 01491 652 255

We’ll consider the request and get back to you in 14 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: Parish Clerk clerk@cholseyparishcouncil.gov.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).

Technical information about the accessibility of our documents

The Cholsey Parish Council is committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The documents Cholsey Parish Council publishes are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-accessible sections are listed below.

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

A few of our documents have diagrams. These images do not have a text alternative, so the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

When we publish new documents we’ll make sure our use of diagrams meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

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

Many of our older PDFs 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).

Some of our PDFs are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on Planning policies.

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 Neighbourhood Plans and external provided documentation.

Any new PDFs that we create and publish will meet accessibility standards.

How we tested our documents

We last tested a sample of our documents on 16 June 2023. The test was carried out by Cholsey Parish Council

We tested:

• Web/HTML Page type of document
• PDF type of document

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

This page was prepared on 26 June 2023. It was last updated on 09 November 2023.