Accessibility statement for Sampford Courtenay Parish Council website
This website is run as a Community Website hosted by Sampford Courtenay
Parish Council (SCPC) in collaboration with other groups across the Parish.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, and we
want this site to be as accessible as possible.
For example, that means you should be able to:
• change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser settings
• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen using browser
settings
• 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 also aim to make the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a
disability.
Translation
If you would like information on our website translated into another language,
you may find one of the services listed below meets your needs. However, we
cannot guarantee the accuracy of any external website or free website
translators.
• Free Translation
• Google
How accessible is this website?
Having completed full review of the website we have found that the following
aspects provide a satisfactory level of accessibility:
• on all the main pages text can be magnified to 300%
• the main pages and attachments can be changed using contrast plug-ins
• the ability to use text-to-speech is available on main pages and most
attachments
• site has the ability to use keyboard navigation
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
• the ability to search by headers is not formatted correctly - this is to be
rectified with the upgrade of the website to the next version of Drupal which is
being implemented to upgrade accessibility specifically
• there are contrast issues in the header and footer which includes the text
around the subscribe for email link - this will be upgraded once the new
version is in place through the web host designer
• there are contrast issues with all Email and web links - this will be upgraded
once the new version is in place through the web host designer
• some of the pages including events and A-Z Activities and Virtual Flower
Show are only partially accessible with text to speech plug ins - these are
community documents and the Parish Council have made requests have for
updated documents to meet this standard
What to do if you can’t access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible
PDF, large print, easy read, please contact us through Sampford Courtenay
Parish Clerk - Malcolm Harris mailto:clerk@sampfordcourtenay-pc.gov.uk 07732 174071 Bridge
Cottage, Sticklepath, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2NR.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We are continuously looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you
find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the
requirements of the accessibility regulations, contact us us through Sampford
Courtenay Parish Clerk - Malcolm Harris mailto:clerk@sampfordcourtenay-pc.gov.uk
07732174071 Bridge Cottage, Sticklepath, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2NR.
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
Sampford Courtenay Parish Council (SCPC) 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
Currently our site does not meet some of the key requirements of the WCAG
2.1 AA standard, and is therefore not compliant. This will be due to one or
both of the following:
• non-compliances - this means the content in question is in scope of the
regulations, but there’s an accessibility problem with it
• an exemption - this means the inaccessible content is out of scope of the
regulations, or it would be a disproportionate burden for SCPC to make it fully
accessible
Non-accessible content
The content types listed below are non-accessible for the following reasons:
• the site is currently only partly able to support navigation using keyboard
navigation
• the site has pages that currently have incorrect headings sequences making
it unreliable to navigate when searching the headings
• some pages may be difficult to navigate using screen reader software
• some pages have contrast issues including web and email links
• some PDF and Word documents attached aren’t fully accessible to screen
reader or text to speech software
• some PDF and Word documents do not meet an appropriate readability
score to assist understanding
• some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen
reader cannot access the information
• third-party systems links that provide information as part of our pages may
not be fully accessible
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example,
a ‘skip to main content’ option). This is something supplied by the web
provider and rectification has been requested.
The majority of PDF documents published since September 2018 aren’t fully
accessible to screen reader software. 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. For example, we do not
plan to fix https://www.sampfordcourtenay-pc.gov.uk/scpc-minutes-2019
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish are being checked to ensure
they meet accessibility standards.
Some images published since September 2018 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 continue to add text
alternatives for all images wherever possible. When we publish new content,
we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
Disproportionate burden
As a small organisation providing the administration of the website for the
community on a voluntary basis, an initial request was made of out
contracted web host and original web creator to undertake the full review for
out Accessibility Compliance regarding WCAG 2.1 AA standard but the cost
quoted (even for our relatively small, uncomplicated site) was 66% of our
overall precept for the year. Whilst we have been unable to request our
professional Web creator to undertake the review we have undertaken a
basic review of critical pages and will have an ongoing plan to review each
page and rectify identified errors that are repeated on each page for example
the Contrast issues for email and web links and the text linked to the contact /
subscribe for email Link shown on each page.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
The Sampford Courtenay Parish Council website was published before
September 2018; as such it is required to be fully accessible by September
2020. We are working to review all content across our website to ensure we
are compliant as soon as possible.
PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility
standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to
a screen reader. Where material is no longer seen as essential to the site
and is non compliant it will be removed.
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing
information regarding services and activity by the Parish Council. For
example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our
services. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML
pages as soon as possible prioritising key Parish Council pages over the next
6 months.
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.
Videos
Some videos may lack captions and do not meet accessibility standards. The
accessibility regulations do not require us to fix videos published before 23
September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.
External links
This website links to third-party, external websites or services that may not be
fully accessible. The site indicates where you are choosing to move to an
external site.
How we are testing our websites
We have undertaken a basic test in line with government guidance and best
practice from National Association of Local Councils testing the website in the
following ways:
• using the NVDA screen reader
• WCAG 2.1 compliance using a third-party review tool WAVE
• testing using a suite of browser-based accessibility reporting tools, including
text to speech & readability test
• colour contrast checkers
The AIM scores vary for different pages - the priority being the official Parish
Council pages most of these pages average between 6/7 out of 10.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are undertaking a comprehensive review of all pages on our website, and
having tested and identified errors, have created an ongoing review
programme to respond to and fix accessibility issues.
Our aim is to ensure that all of our priority services websites are compliant as
soon as possible with a milestone for Parish Council pages completed by
September 2026.
We also have a plan in place to review and update any of our older web
pages to ensure they are compliant as soon as possible.
We are providing training to all content authors to ensure new content is
accessible through use of templates and guidance. We will be reviewing our
websites on a regular basis and updating this statement accordingly.
Contact us
For any enquiries about the accessibility of this website, you can contact us
by:
• emailing the Parish Clerk Malcolm Harris mailto:clerk@sampfordcourtenay-pc.gov.uk
• calling him on 07732 174071
• post at Bridge Cottage, Sticklepath, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2NR
This statement was prepared on 25 March 2026.
Review of the statement will take place annually.
Next review March 2027