Accessibility Statement for Gardeners Coulsdon

Gardeners Coulsdon is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive online experience for all visitors, including disabled people, older people, and those using assistive technologies. This Accessibility Statement explains the steps we take to make our website easier to use and what you can do if you experience any accessibility barriers while looking for accessible gardening services in the Coulsdon area.

Our Commitment to Accessibility

We aim for our website to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1, Level AA. These guidelines are recognised as the international standard for making web content more accessible. By following WCAG 2.1 AA, we aim to provide a positive experience for people using a wide range of devices, assistive tools, and browser settings when researching gardeners in Coulsdon.

Accessibility is an ongoing process. We review our content, structure, and design on a regular basis to identify and fix issues and to improve the user experience for everyone.

Screen Reader Support

Our website is designed to work with common screen readers and text-to-speech tools. We use clear headings, meaningful page titles, and descriptive text to help screen reader users understand the structure of each page. Where possible, images include text alternatives so that important information is available even when images cannot be seen.

We aim to use simple language and clear content structure so that visitors using screen readers can quickly find information about our gardening services in Coulsdon and nearby areas.

Keyboard Navigation

The website is intended to be fully usable with a keyboard. You should be able to move through menus, forms, and interactive elements using the Tab, Shift plus Tab, Enter, and arrow keys without needing to use a mouse. Focus indicators are used so that you can see which element is currently selected when navigating by keyboard.

We regularly test the site to help ensure that important tasks, such as reading about services, checking service areas around Coulsdon, and making contact, can be completed using keyboard navigation alone.

Visual Design and Readability

We seek to ensure sufficient colour contrast between text and background to aid readability, particularly for visitors with low vision or colour vision deficiencies. Text can be resized using your browser settings without loss of content or functionality, allowing you to adjust the display for comfortable reading.

Layout and spacing are designed to support clear reading and navigation on both desktop and mobile devices, helping people in Coulsdon access gardening information wherever they are.

Ongoing Improvements

We know that accessibility is not a one-time project. As we update content or add new features to our Gardeners Coulsdon website, we aim to test them against WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. Where we identify issues, we work to fix them as soon as reasonably possible.

If you encounter a barrier that stops you from using the site, we want to hear from you so we can investigate and address it.

Requesting Information in an Accessible Format

If you need information about our gardening services in Coulsdon in a different format, such as large print or an alternative digital format, you can contact us and explain what you need and how you prefer to receive it. We will discuss reasonable options with you and aim to respond in a timely manner.

Contacting Us About Accessibility

If you have difficulty using any part of the Gardeners Coulsdon website, if you find content that is hard to access, or if you have suggestions for improving accessibility, please contact us and include the following details where possible:

The page you were visiting, what you were trying to do, and any tools or assistive technologies you were using. This information helps us understand the issue more clearly and work towards a suitable solution.

We take accessibility feedback seriously and use it to improve our website for everyone in the Coulsdon community who is looking for accessible gardening services.