Accessibility Statement
Accessibility Statement for the Verwood Town Council Website
This accessibility statement applies to content published on www.verwood.gov.uk
This website is run by Verwood Town 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 or speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We’ve 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:
• text alternatives are missing for some images, buttons and inline frames
• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• some tables in PDF files are used for display purposes only and are not easy to navigate using a keyboard
• some third-party elements have non-accessible attributes (e.g. our events calendar)
• some of the forms linked from this website may not be fully compliant
• some buttons have coded accessible labels that don’t match the text on the button
• the ‘skip to main content’ navigation does not always take the user to the start of the main content
• the heading structure on some pages jumps levels
• our Town Guide and editions of the Verwood Vista are not accessible to screen reader software and may prove difficult to navigate for some users when using a keyboard
• our search function does not provide keyboard focus on search results
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, please email towncouncil@verwood.gov.uk.
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, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical Information About this Website’s Accessibility
Verwood Town 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 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-compliance with the Accessibility Regulations
• Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
We plan to add text alternatives for all images by March 2027. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
• Some pages have an illogical heading structure, and some pages have empty headings left in the code. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).
We are working to correct them on an ongoing basis, as resources allow.
• Some PDFs are not tagged in a logical reading order which may make it harder for screen reader users to understand information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful sequence).
We are working to correct PDFs on an ongoing basis, as resources allow.
• Some tables have been used for layout purposes rather than data making it harder for screen reader users to understand information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful sequence).
We are working to correct tables on an ongoing basis, as resources allow.
• Not all our buttons have consistent accessible labels to the button text. This fails success criteria 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose).
• Some images contain text which is not always reflected in alternative text or in a HTML format. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of text).
We will be working to correct this on an ongoing basis.
• Some PDFs do not have titles set making it harder for people to understand the context or identify the purpose of the document. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page titled).
• Some PDFs do not use the language attribute to identify the language used on the document. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of page).
• Our search function does not provide keyboard focus on search results. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
• Our events calendar cannot be tabbed in a logical reading order when there is more than one event on the same day. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence).
• The current day date on our events calendar displays with insufficient contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).
Disproportionate Burden
At this time we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.
Content that is Not Within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations
PDF documents submitted to us by third parties that we are obliged to publish, such as meeting reports and works quotations, may not be compliant. We cannot amend these documents as we did not author them.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared on 3 April 2024. It was last reviewed on 4 December 2025.
This website was last tested via self-assessment by our web developer in November 2025 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.
Verwood Town Council continuously monitors the website using SiteImprove accessibility software and WebAIM’s WAVE accessibility software. We also conduct manual spot checks on the most viewed pages and recently updated pages.