Accessibility statement
This statement applies to this website, which is run by Nettlestead Parish Council. It does not cover any other website you reach from a link here.
Using this website
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this site. That means you should be able to:
- change the text size from the buttons in the header of every page, without reloading and without signing in;
- switch between light and dark, again from every page;
- zoom in to 200% using your browser's own controls without text spilling off the screen or overlapping;
- navigate the whole site using a keyboard, with a "skip to content" link first in the tab order;
- read the site with a screen reader, with headings in order and links that make sense out of context.
AbilityNet's My Computer My Way has advice on making any device easier to use.
How accessible this website is
We believe this website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard. The parts that are not compliant are listed below.
We say "partially" deliberately. The site has not been independently audited, and we would rather say so than claim a standard we have not had checked by someone else.
Non-accessible content
The following is not yet fully accessible:
- Newsletters. These are published as PDF downloads. Older ones are scans and are not tagged for screen readers. Documents published before 23 September 2018 are exempt from the regulations, but the practical point matters more than the exemption: if you cannot read a document on this site, ask the Clerk and it will be provided in another format — large print, plain text, or read out over the phone.
- Live data from other organisations. Flood warnings, river levels, weather warnings, policing information and hospital waiting times are reproduced from the Environment Agency, the Met Office, the police and the NHS. We control how they are presented but not their wording.
- Horizontal scrolling in two places. The Community sub-navigation and the seven-day forecast scroll sideways on narrow screens rather than wrapping. Both are reachable by keyboard and by screen reader.
Minutes and agendas are web pages, not PDFs
Every set of minutes and every agenda on this site is readable as an ordinary web page. It resizes, reflows on a phone, works with a screen reader, and can be found by search. Most parish websites link a PDF instead, which means downloading a file and pinching to zoom to find out what your council decided.
Where a signed PDF exists it remains the legal record and is kept, but it is not what you have to read.
How we tested
Colour contrast is measured rather than judged by eye: body text is at least 14:1 against its background in the light theme and at least 9:1 in the dark theme, against a WCAG AA requirement of 4.5:1. Coloured elements that carry meaning, such as the stripe on a severe weather warning, are checked against the 3:1 required for non-text content.
The site loads no third-party scripts, fonts or trackers at all, so nothing can be introduced into the page by another company without us knowing.
We have not yet carried out a full test with assistive technology users. That is the main gap in this statement.
Feedback and contact
If you find a problem, or you need something on this site in a different format, contact the Clerk:
Joanna Geary — clerk@nettlesteadpc.gov.uk — 07396 725 812
We aim to reply within 10 working days.
If you are not happy with our response
The Equality and Human Rights Commission enforces the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. If you are unhappy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.
This statement was prepared on Tuesday 1 September 2026. It is reviewed when the site changes materially.