Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Benson Parish Council website at https://bensonpc.org.uk/, including all pages and downloadable documents hosted at that domain.

This website is run by Benson Parish 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 using browser or device settings
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard alone, including all navigation menus and dropdown submenus
  • use speech recognition software to interact with the website
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • skip to the main content using a skip link, bypassing the navigation

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

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • some images have missing or inadequate text alternatives, which means screen reader users may not receive the correct information for those images
  • some links use non-descriptive text such as “click here” which does not clearly describe the destination when read out of context by a screen reader
  • the website footer does not use a recognised landmark region, which may make keyboard and screen reader navigation of the footer area less efficient
  • some PDF documents do not have a correct document title in their metadata, and some do not contain bookmarks for internal navigation

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact the Parish Clerk:

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact the Parish Clerk using the details above. We will consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Benson 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Images and alternative text

Some images on the website — primarily images used in content tiles on the Home page — do not have descriptive text alternatives. Screen reader users may receive unhelpful file names or keywords instead of a meaningful description of the image content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).

We plan to review and update the alternative text for all affected images by September 2026. Any new images added to the website will be given appropriate alternative text at the time of publishing.

Page structure and information relationships

The website footer is rendered using a generic container element rather than a recognised landmark region. This means some screen reader users may not be able to navigate directly to the footer using landmark navigation shortcuts. There are also minor heading hierarchy inconsistencies on some individual pages. This partially fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).

We plan to address the footer landmark issue by September 2026.

Link text

Some links on the website use non-descriptive phrases such as “click here” or “here” that do not clearly describe the destination or purpose of the link when read in isolation by a screen reader user. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose).

We plan to review and update all non-descriptive link text across the website by September 2026.

PDF documents — titles and navigation

Several PDF documents published on this website have accessibility issues with their document metadata:

  • The Finance and Staffing Committee Agenda (October 2025) has an inadequate document title — it is titled only with the organisation name, with no description of the document content.
  • The Full Council Meeting Minutes (June 2025) has an incorrect document title showing a different organisation’s name.
  • The Allotment Tenancy Agreement has no document title in its metadata.

These issues mean that screen reader users may not be able to identify the document from its title alone. This partially fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).

Additionally, some PDF documents do not contain bookmarks or a document outline, which means keyboard and screen reader users cannot navigate directly between sections within those documents. This partially fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).

We plan to re-publish corrected versions of all affected PDFs by September 2026. Any new PDFs we publish will include correct title metadata and bookmarks where the document has identifiable sections.

Duplicate element identifiers in file listings

On pages that contain multiple file download sections (such as the Finances page), the file management plugin used by the website generates duplicate HTML identifier attributes. This is a known issue with the third-party plugin and does not prevent users from accessing or downloading files, but it may cause minor issues with some assistive technology. This partially fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).

We have reported this issue to the plugin developer and will update the website when a fix becomes available.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Third-party content

The Hall Hire page contains an embedded booking system provided by a third-party service (ScribeAccounts venue hire). We do not control this content and are not responsible for its accessibility. We have added a title to the embedded booking frame so that screen reader users are informed of its presence and purpose.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are actively working to improve the accessibility of this website. Following a formal WCAG 2.2 Level AA audit carried out in March 2026, we completed a programme of remediation work in April 2026. The following improvements have already been made:

  • restored visible focus indicators (keyboard navigation highlight) across all interactive elements sitewide
  • added keyboard accessibility to all navigation dropdown menus, including opening with arrow keys and closing with Escape
  • updated the brand colour palette to achieve a minimum contrast ratio of 8.3:1 against white backgrounds
  • added a non-colour indicator (underline) to the active navigation item
  • improved the cookie consent banner to be fully keyboard accessible — the preference panel now works correctly at all screen sizes
  • added correct autocomplete attributes to all contact form fields to support autofill for users with cognitive or motor disabilities
  • fixed the skip link so that keyboard users can bypass the navigation and go directly to the main content
  • corrected the Events page document title which previously showed a past date range
  • added accessible names to all interactive buttons in the document lightbox viewer
  • added a title to the hall hire booking system iframe
  • increased the tap target size of small interactive links to meet the minimum requirements
  • added a required field legend (“Fields marked * are required”) to the contact form

We plan to complete the remaining accessibility improvements listed in this statement by September 2026.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on April 2026. It was last reviewed on April 2026.

This website was last tested in March 2026 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. All 57 WCAG 2.2 success criteria applicable at Levels A and AA were evaluated using a combination of automated testing tools (WAVE, Arc Toolkit), manual keyboard testing, code inspection, and live browser verification.

Following the audit, Aqueous UK Ltd carried out remediation work in April 2026 to resolve the majority of identified failures. This statement reflects the current state of the website after that remediation programme.

This accessibility statement was last updated: April 2026.