Every town and parish council has both a legal obligation and a moral duty to ensure its website is accessible to all residents. For many people, the council website is the primary way they access local information, read meeting minutes, find planning notices, and get in touch with their representatives. When a website contains barriers that prevent disabled people from using it, those residents are effectively excluded from local democracy. At Zonkey Council Websites, we build WordPress websites for councils that meet accessibility standards from the ground up, ensuring every member of your community can access the information and services they need.
Why Accessibility Matters for Council Websites
Accessibility is not optional for council websites. It is a legal requirement.
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 require all public sector websites to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA. This legislation applies to every public sector body in the UK, and that includes town councils, parish councils, and community councils, regardless of their size or budget.
In addition, the Equality Act 2010 places a duty on organisations providing services to the public to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage. A website that cannot be used by someone with a visual impairment, a motor disability, or a cognitive difficulty is failing to meet that duty.
According to government statistics, around one in five people in the UK has a disability. That means a significant proportion of your residents may struggle to use your council website if it has not been built with accessibility in mind. This includes people who are blind or partially sighted and rely on screen readers, people with motor impairments who navigate using a keyboard rather than a mouse, people with dyslexia or other cognitive disabilities who need clear and well-structured content, and older residents who may have a combination of age-related impairments.
Beyond the legal requirements, there is a straightforward practical argument. An accessible website is a better website for everyone. Clear navigation, well-structured content, readable text, and logical page layouts benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. When you invest in accessibility, you improve the experience for your entire community.
What Is WCAG 2.2 AA?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, known as WCAG, are an internationally recognised set of standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These guidelines provide a detailed framework for making web content accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities.
WCAG is built around four core principles. All web content must be:
- Perceivable — Information and user interface components must be presented in ways that all users can perceive. This means providing text alternatives for images, captions for videos, and ensuring content can be presented in different ways without losing meaning.
- Operable — User interface components and navigation must be operable by all users. This includes making all functionality available from a keyboard, giving users enough time to read and interact with content, and not designing content in ways that could cause seizures.
- Understandable — Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. Text should be readable, web pages should appear and operate in predictable ways, and users should be helped to avoid and correct mistakes.
- Robust — Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies such as screen readers.
WCAG defines three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA. Level AA is the standard required by UK law for public sector websites. It strikes a balance between thorough accessibility and practical implementation, covering the most significant barriers that disabled people encounter on the web.
WCAG 2.2, the most recent version of the guidelines, introduced additional criteria focused on improving the experience for users with cognitive and learning disabilities, users with low vision, and users with motor impairments. It includes requirements around focus appearance, dragging movements, and consistent help mechanisms.
How We Build Accessible Council Websites
At Zonkey Council Websites, accessibility is built into every website from day one. It is not an afterthought, and it is not something we bolt on at the end of a project. Every decision we make during the design and development process considers the needs of all users.
Semantic HTML. We use proper HTML elements for their intended purpose. Headings are marked up as headings, lists as lists, and navigation as navigation. This provides a clear and logical structure that assistive technologies can interpret correctly, allowing screen reader users to navigate your website efficiently.
Proper heading hierarchy. Every page follows a logical heading structure, starting with a single H1 and progressing through H2, H3, and so on without skipping levels. This allows users of assistive technologies to scan the page and jump to the section they need, much like a sighted user would scan a page visually.
Colour contrast. We ensure that all text meets or exceeds the WCAG AA contrast ratios. This means a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. We carefully select colour palettes that are both visually appealing and accessible to people with low vision or colour blindness.
Meaningful alt text. Every image on your website is given appropriate alternative text that describes its content or function. Decorative images are correctly marked so that screen readers skip over them, reducing unnecessary noise for those users.
Keyboard navigation. All functionality on our websites can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone. This is essential for users who cannot use a mouse, including people with motor impairments and many screen reader users. Focus indicators are clearly visible so that keyboard users always know where they are on the page.
Screen reader compatibility. We test our websites with screen readers to ensure that all content is announced correctly and that the reading order is logical. ARIA labels and landmarks are used where appropriate to provide additional context for assistive technology users.
Accessible forms. Contact forms, comment forms, and any other interactive elements are built with proper labels, clear error messages, and logical tab order. Every form field has an associated label, required fields are clearly indicated, and error messages explain what needs to be corrected and where.
Responsive design. Our websites work across all devices and screen sizes. Content reflows properly when text is enlarged up to 200 per cent, ensuring that users who need to increase text size can do so without losing content or functionality.
Accessible Documents and PDFs
Council websites typically publish a large volume of documents, including meeting agendas, minutes, financial reports, policies, and planning notices. These documents must also be accessible.
PDF files are a common source of accessibility problems. A PDF that has been created by scanning a paper document is essentially an image and is completely inaccessible to screen readers. Even PDFs created digitally can have significant accessibility issues if they lack proper structure, tagged headings, alternative text for images, or a logical reading order.
We help councils address document accessibility in several ways. Where possible, we recommend publishing key information as web content rather than as downloadable documents, since well-structured web pages are inherently more accessible than PDFs. When documents must be provided as downloads, we advise on how to create accessible PDFs and Word documents, including proper use of styles, headings, and alternative text. We also ensure that document links on your website clearly indicate the file type and size, so users know what to expect before they download.
If your council currently has a large library of inaccessible documents on its website, we can advise on a practical strategy for prioritising which documents to remediate first, helping you work towards compliance in a manageable way.
Your Accessibility Statement
Every public sector website is required to publish an accessibility statement. This is not simply a formality. It is a meaningful document that demonstrates your council’s commitment to accessibility and provides important information for your residents.
Your accessibility statement should include a description of how accessible your website is, details of any parts of the website that are not fully accessible and the reasons why, information on how users can request content in an alternative format, and contact details for reporting accessibility problems. It should also include the date of your most recent accessibility audit and the enforcement procedure through the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
At Zonkey Council Websites, we help every council we work with to create a comprehensive and accurate accessibility statement. We provide a clear assessment of your website’s conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA, identify any known issues, and draft the statement so that it meets the requirements set out in the regulations. We also help you keep it up to date as your website evolves.
Ongoing Accessibility Testing
Accessibility is not a one-off exercise. Websites change over time as new content is added, pages are updated, and new features are introduced. Each change has the potential to introduce new accessibility barriers if care is not taken.
We carry out thorough accessibility testing during the build of your website, using a combination of automated testing tools and manual testing. Automated tools are valuable for catching many common issues quickly, but they cannot identify all barriers. Manual testing, including keyboard navigation testing and screen reader testing, is essential for a complete picture of your website’s accessibility.
After your website is launched, we provide ongoing support to help you maintain your accessibility standards. This includes periodic reviews of your website’s accessibility, guidance on creating accessible content, and prompt fixes for any issues that are identified. We also monitor changes to the WCAG guidelines and UK legislation so that your website stays compliant as standards evolve.
Common Accessibility Barriers on Council Websites
Many council websites contain accessibility barriers that prevent disabled residents from accessing information and services. Some of the most common issues we encounter include:
Poor colour contrast. Text that does not have sufficient contrast against its background is difficult or impossible to read for people with low vision or colour blindness. This is one of the most frequently occurring accessibility failures on the web.
Missing alternative text on images. When images lack alt text, screen reader users have no way of knowing what the image shows. This is particularly problematic when images convey important information, such as maps, charts, or photographs of planning applications.
Inaccessible PDF documents. Scanned PDFs and poorly structured digital PDFs are a major barrier. Many council websites have years of accumulated documents that are not accessible.
Missing or incorrect form labels. When form fields do not have properly associated labels, screen reader users cannot tell what information they are expected to enter. This can make it impossible to complete a contact form or submit a comment.
Complex or inconsistent navigation. Navigation menus that are difficult to understand, inconsistent across pages, or impossible to operate with a keyboard create significant barriers for many users.
Auto-playing media. Videos or audio that play automatically when a page loads can be disorienting for screen reader users and distressing for people with certain cognitive disabilities. Media should always be under the user’s control.
Unclear link text. Links labelled “click here” or “read more” do not make sense out of context. Screen reader users often navigate by pulling up a list of all links on a page, and generic link text makes it impossible to tell where each link leads.
Ready to Make Your Council Website Accessible?
If you are concerned about your council website’s accessibility, or if you know it does not currently meet the required standards, we are here to help.
We offer a free accessibility check for council websites. We will review your current website, identify the key accessibility barriers, and provide you with a clear summary of what needs to be addressed. There is no obligation and no jargon, just a straightforward assessment that your council can act on.
To request your free accessibility check, visit our free accessibility check page or request a quotation for a fully accessible council website built to WCAG 2.2 AA standards.
You can also get in touch with us directly. Call us on 01225 667 977 or email councils@zonkey.co.uk. We are based in Bath and work with town and parish councils across the United Kingdom.