Accessibility

Accessibility Statement for Canvey Island Town Council

This website is run by Canvey Island Town Council, developed, and provdided by Phuse Media.

These statements are made in good faith and we accept that there may still be areas that will require further work. 

We are not responsible for making external content accessible which has been provided to us by a third party. 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 upto 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have made the website text as simples as possible to understand. Any links to external websites will open in another window. 

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible tis website is?

The Town Council have ensured its website is compliant with WCAG 2 AA. Improvements were made to ensure accessibility with the update required in October 2024.

These updates were undertaken by the Town Council's website provider, Phuse Media.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille: 

• email: clerk@canveyisland-tc.gov.uk
• call: 01268 683965

The Town Council will consider your request and get back to you within 28 working days. 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

The Town Council is 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 Town Clerk on clerk@canveyisland-tc.gov.uk or call the office on 01268 683965.

Please note some problems can only be resolved by the website provider Phuse Media and will take longer.

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 Advisroy and Support Service (EASS)

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

If it is not possible to make contact as set out above, arrangements may be made to meet you in person. The Town Councils contacts page https://canveyisland-tc.gov.uk/contact-us provides details of how to contact the office.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Canvey Island 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.

This website is compliant with the Website Content Accessibility Guidlines Verions 2.2 AA Standard

Non accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. Archive material is exempt from the regulations.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

No issues found.

Disproportionate burden

If any changes are required that are found to be too costly it would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. All assessments will be made and reviewed annually. 

Navigation and accessing information

No issues found.

Interactive tools and transactions

No issues found.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs providing minutes of meetings, and forms published as word documents. These have either been fixed or replaced with accessbile HTML pages. 

Any new PDFs or word documents we publish will meet, as fully as possible at this time, accessibility standards.

The exemptions

• Older documents (pre-Sept 2018) that are not in active admin use are exempt for ever.
• Disproportionate burden can be used to explain non-compliance, but this needs to be audited, costed and justified. Lack of time due to lack of priority is not considered a reason. See additional guidance on disproportionate burdens claims (Part 2 section 7)

Many of our older PDFs and word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they are accessibile to a screen reader. These are exempt as they were prior to the September 2019 implementation date. There are no videos on the site. 

How we tested this website

A new site was launched in September 2020 and additional compliance amendments were made in October 2024 in order to be compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA Standard, tested by Phuse Media. 

What we are doing to improve accessibility 

The Town Council will review accessibility on a regular basis with the intention of making the website available to as many people as possible. 

This statement was prepared in January 2020 and updated on 9th April 2025.