Accessibility Statement

Bishop Middleham Parish Council is committed to ensuring our website is accessible and
easy for everyone to use. We want all residents — including people with disabilities, older
users, and those using assistive technology — to be able to:

• navigate the website using a keyboard
• listen to the website using a screen reader
• zoom in up to 300% without loss of content
• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• access clear, structured information

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

Accessibility tools available on this website

This website includes an accessibility interface provided by our website supplier. It is designed to support users with a wide range of access needs by allowing them to adjust the website’s appearance and behaviour to suit their preferences.

Screen reader and keyboard navigation support

• ARIA attributes to improve screen reader interpretation
• Automatic prompts for screen reader users
• Background processes that analyse and adjust HTML for accessibility
• Automatic image description generation using OCR and object recognition
• Keyboard navigation enhancements (Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Esc, arrow keys)
• Quick navigation shortcuts such as:
o M (menus)
o H (headings)
o F (forms)
o B (buttons)
o G (graphics)

Disability-specific profiles

• Epilepsy Safe Mode
• Visually Impaired Mode
• Cognitive Disability Mode
• ADHD Friendly Mode
• Blindness Mode (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack compatible)
• Keyboard Navigation Profile (motor-impaired users)
UI, design and readability adjustments
• Text size, spacing and font adjustments
• Colour and contrast controls
• Animation suppression
• Content highlighting
• Audio muting
• Cursor adjustments
• Virtual keyboard
• Printing mode
• Built-in dictionary and explanation tools for cognitive support

These tools are available on every page and are intended to make the website easier to
use for people with diverse needs.
Important note

While this accessibility interface provides helpful adjustments, it does not replace the
need for manual accessibility work.
We continue to review and improve the website to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA.

How accessible this website is

Following recent improvements, most of the website is now fully accessible.  Improvements completed:

• Correct and consistent H1, H2 and H3 heading structure across key pages
• Improved readability and layout
• Clear, descriptive link text
• No colour contrast issues
• No keyboard traps
• Skip link present and functioning
• Images include appropriate alternative text
• Pages written in plain English
• Accessibility interface available site-wide
• Contact form fully updated with accessible labels and error messages

Remaining accessibility issues
Some parts of the website are not fully accessible yet:

PDFs and documents

Some older PDFs are not fully accessible. Issues may include:

• untagged PDFs
• scanned documents that are not searchable
• missing headings
• tables without markup

These documents are required for transparency under local government legislation, but we are working to improve them.

Contact form (updated)

Our contact form has now been replaced with an accessible version.
It includes:

• properly coded, visible programmatic labels
• clear instructions
• accessible error messages

This replaces the previous form, which relied on placeholder text and did not meet
WCAG requirements.

We will continue to review the form to ensure it remains fully accessible.

Third-party content

Some embedded content (e.g., maps, external documents) is outside our control  and may not fully meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are actively:

• updating PDFs to ensure they are tagged, searchable and accessible
• reviewing all pages for consistent heading structure
• checking new content for accessibility before publication
• carrying out regular accessibility checks using WAVE and other tools
• ensuring all images include meaningful alt text
• improving the clarity and layout of content
• maintaining and monitoring the accessibility interface to support users
Accessibility is an ongoing commitment, and we will continue to make improvements.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, such as:

• accessible PDF
• large print
• easy read
• audio recording
• braille

please contact:

Parish Clerk: Anne Hall
Email: parishclerk@bishopmiddleham-pc.gov.uk
Telephone: 07512 314 606

We will consider your request and respond as soon as possible.

Reporting accessibility problems
If you find any accessibility issues not listed on this page, or think we are not meeting
accessibility requirements, please contact the Parish Clerk using the details above.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality
Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for further advice.

Technical information about this website’s
accessibility Bishop Middleham Parish Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is partially compliant with the WCAG 2.2 AA standard due to the
non-compliances listed above.

Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 27 March 2026.

It was last reviewed on 21st April 2026.
This website is tested regularly using:

• WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
• Manual keyboard testing
• Screen reader checks
• Colour contrast analysis
• The accessibility interface’s built-in tools
• Franklin Accessibility tool