Accessibility Statement
This accessibility statement applies to the West Berkshire Council Directory website, https://directory.westberks.gov.uk/
This website is run by West Berkshire Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This means you should be able to:
- Zoom in up to 200% 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 easy to understand.
This website is designed to be compliant with the international standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (WCAG) – Level AA.
How accessible is this website?
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. These are listed below and you can see a more detailed list of these issues in the non-accessible section of this statement.
· This website uses JavaScript to deliver certain features. Please make sure you have JavaScript turned on within your browser to deliver full features
· Our Directory page is not fully accessible on a mobile device
· Some of our content pages and forms are not fully accessible
Further information on accessibility options
The RNIB has a webpage with information on options which can make it easier for people with low or no vision to use their computers - RNIB Accessibility Options
How to use this website?
Accessible Alternatives
Every effort has been made to create accessible alternatives for content that doesn't meet standards.
Where appropriate we may be able to deliver content to users in accordance with their needs.
Please contact us for further details.
Purpose of Links
The website uses links to navigate. External links will open in a new window.
Where possible, an external link will be described within the link text, so users understand the link’s purpose. However, in certain areas of the website adding this extra description wouldn't be appropriate.
Our definition for external links:
External Links will be used for any content that has known limitations with assistive technologies OR navigates a user away from secure platforms. In summary, this means the following items are considered external links –
- Non-HTML Documentation (See “Issues with PDFs and other documents”)
- Redirection away from secure platforms
- External websites that are not part of council website.
Feedback and contact information
If you find any problems that aren’t listed within this statement, or don't believe we're meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations please contact us using the details on our Contact Us page.
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
West Berkshire Council are 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 2.2 AA standard, due to the following non-compliances and exemptions listed in the following chapter.
Non-accessible content
This sub-section lists issues that fail the current accessibility regulations. The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
During our last review of this website, we have fixed all major issues that failed WCAG 2.2, please see "Resolutions Section" for detailed summary of the fixes.
Areas of the website that fail to meet WCAG 2.2 have been brought to our attention.
Mobile issues
It has been discovered during testing that the keyboard navigation order of the hamburger menu doesn't match the reading order. This causes a failure in Success Criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (A).
Our web developers have been notified and fix is planned for February 2026.
Directory issues
It has been discovered during testing that the bypass blocks in the directory pages cannot be used together to bypass content. A screen-reader user must navigate through the entire page header landmark to reach the "Skip to results". This causes a minor failure in Success Criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (A).
Our web developers have been notified and fix is planned for February 2026.
Content Issues
It has been discovered during testing that some content pages do not meet the required accessibility regulations. While we have tried to ensure the majority of content pages are accessible. We have been notified of issues with pages and are reviewing them.
Failures from these items include:-
- Lack of alt text on some images. This fails Success Criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A)
- Heading levels are not always used in the correct way. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA)
- HTML tables are not always clearly labelled. This fails Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)
- Link text is undescriptive on some pages. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A)
We are currently reviewing these pages and providing feedback to our web developers.
We will ensure that future content published will adhere to accessibility standards.
Resolutions of Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Since this statement was last updated the following accessibility issues have been resolved:-
RESOLVED: Issues with Mobile Devices
Since the last review of this statement, the hamburger menu required the user to say “Toggle Navigation” to open/close the menu. A user can now say “Main Menu” using voice recognition software to open the hamburger menu. This passes success criteria 2.5.3: Label in Name (AA) of the accessibility standards.
The filter facet menu could not be accessed when viewing the directory on a mobile screen (at 200% zoom). This now works at up to 400% zoom. This passes success criteria 1.4.4 Resize Text (AA) of the accessibility standards.
RESOLVED: Keyboard navigation issues
The amount of facets in the filters menu directory did not show some facets when a keyboard user attempted to focus on them failed WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum). This is now fixed.
RESOLVED: Landmark issues
Since the last review of this statement there were known landmark issues on the website.
Some landmarks that appear on forms and directory pages were not appropriately labelled. This would cause issues for some screen reader users. This is now fixed and passes Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).
Landmarks in content pages have also been fixed.
RESOLVED: Form Issues
Since the statement was last reviewed accessibility issues involved with integrated forms have been fixed.
Disproportionate burden
There are no issues that are considered a disproportionate burden in accordance with the regulations.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
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.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
The new version of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.2 were published on 5th October 2023.
This has replaced WCAG 2.1 as the legally required accessibility standard in October 2024.
While testing this website, issues with the new accessibility regulations have been discovered. We are working with our website provider to ensure we meet this deadline by February 2026.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on the 11th June 2024. It will be reviewed every year in accordance with the regulations. It was last reviewed on 14th October 2025.
Further accessibility audits were carried out by our website provider, People Places Lives on 10th June 2025 and 13th October 2025.
To prepare this statement an accessibility test was carried out by People Places Lives QA Team. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by our website team. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.