Accessibility Statement

Introduction

This accessibility statement applies to the Our District Magazine website, run by Horsham District Council.

Horsham District Council is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for everyone. We are continually improving the user experience of our website and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

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

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

The Our District Magazine website is built using the Squiz Matrix content management system.

How accessible this website is

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

  • same documents are in PDF format and are not accessible
  • some images do not have image descriptions
  • some pre-recorded multimedia do not have audio descriptions and transcripts
  • the YouTube video player may have accessibility issues with contrast and tooltips
  • some ARIA elements have not been implemented correctly
  • some documents may have poor colour contrast

Feedback and contact information

If you need information from this website in a different format like an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, email communications@horsham.gov.uk

We will consider the request and respond within 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re 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 the Digital Communications Team:

We try to respond to feedback within 5 working days.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has useful tips on contacting organisations about inaccessible websites.

Formal complaints

We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within 5 working days, and to propose a solution within 10 working days.

You are entitled to escalate a complaint to the Council’s complaints officer yoursay@horsham.gov.uk, should you be dissatisfied with our response to you.

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Our office at Parkside has disabled access.

We can take calls using the Text Relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Visit our Contact page to find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Horsham District 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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

We are currently reviewing all of our websites and this list will be updated as more information becomes available. In the meantime, we are working to address all of the issues listed below and will update this statement as necessary.

  • Some PDF documents do not have titles that describe the topic or purpose of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2: Page Titles
  • Images on some pages do not always have suitable image descriptions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1: Non-text Content

Disproportionate burden

We have not identified any elements that qualify as a disproportionate burden.

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

We have not identified content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Horsham District Council continues to assess the accessibility of the Our District Magazine website by the following approaches:

  • training for staff on how to create accessible pages and documents
  • ongoing monitoring of accessibility issues using automated testing Monsido
  • procedures have been put in place for when procuring or developing online systems

How we test the website

The Our District Magazine website is continually tested using an automated solution Monsido. All pages of the website and PDF documents within the website are tested.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in December 2020. It was last reviewed in April 2023.

This website was last tested on 31 May 2023. The test was carried out by the Digital Communications Team at Horsham District Council.

Formal approval of this accessibility statement

This Accessibility Statement is approved by Horsham District Council’s Head of Customer and Digital Services. To view a signed version of this statement please email communications@horsham.gov.uk.