Accessibility information

This website is run by Ware Town 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)
• find information contained in difficult to navigate tables within a text block or other accessible format on the same page

We have 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.

How accessible this website is

The website is compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA Standards at the point of remedial fixes going live and re-testing in November 2024.

We recognise some parts of this website may not be fully accessible

• you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• live video streams do not have captions
• you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
• there’s a limit to how far you can magnify the maps used on some of our pages

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Please note the following:

• Some of our pages contain maps. We don’t control how Google Maps displays information, but where possible we provide addresses within the web page’s text (via HTML). When Google makes their map output accessible, we will update our technology accordingly.
• We often publish or share pictures of events or information posters which has been provided to us by a third party like local Ware community or voluntary groups. Where possible we provide the information from the picture, within the web page’s text (via HTML). We will encourage all providers of these pictures to provide accessible alternatives in future.
• 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 images by 31^st March 2025. We are working through the site to address any missing ALT tags.
• When we publish new content, we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
• Some PDFs published since September 2018 are not in an accessible format, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. We plan to replace these with alternatives by 31^st March 2025. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of PDFs meets accessibility standards.
• With navigation and accessing information it’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. It’s not always possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

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:

• email [email protected]
• call 01920 460316 and ask to speak to the Communications Team

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, call or email us for directions.

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

• Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By 31 March 2025, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
• For context, 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.
• Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
• We don’t routinely publish live video streams, but if or when we do we do not plan to add captions to these streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are 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 [email protected] giving the page title and the nature of the problem.

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

Ware Town Council is committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to improve accessibility on this website through auditing all existing content before 31^st March 2025. Monitoring of the site takes place monthly by the Communications Manager. Administration of the website (adding and editing information) is restricted to selected council officers who receive ongoing training and keep appraised of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 5^th November 2024. This website was last tested in November 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. Tests were carried out by both internal systems and our website provider, Aubergine 262.