Website Report 4th March 2020
Public sector website accessibility statements 4th March 2020
Author: Carole Oliphant – Parish Clerk
Reason for report:
To provide Brampford Speke Parish Council with an overview of its responsibilities for
website accessibility and to detail its current compliance with regulations.
Overview:
New regulations have come into force which meant that from 2019, every public sector
website and app needed to meet certain accessibility standards.
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations
2018, to give its full title, came into force on 23 September 2018. It aims to ensure public
sector websites and mobile apps are accessible to all users, especially those with disabilities.
All new public sector websites need to meet accessibility standards and publish an accessibility statement.
This will make clear the level of accessibility across the site or app. Where there are barriers,
the statement will inform users of alternative routes to access. The statement will also
enable users to contact the website owner if they identify issues.
Any websites published since September 2018 will need a statement by September 2019,
while older websites have until September 2020 to comply.
Current status:
Brampford Speke Parish Council is fully compliant to the Transparency Act 2015 and
publishes it statutory documents including, agendas, minutes, financial information and
councillor information. However, the uploading of these documents within statutory
timeframes is reliant on the accessibility of a third party as the Parish Council have no access
to be able to upload documents or change content.
The current website is run by a third party and is not currently compliant to the accessibility
regulations in that there is no app version available and the site is difficult to navigate.
There are concerns that as the Parish Council does not own or run the current website and
have no influence on the hosting of the site there is uncertainty over the safety and antivirus software currently in operation.
The guidelines state that the Parish Council has until 2020 to make its website compliant.
New Website:
Parish Councils are now expected to provide information to parishioners digitally and in a
format that is accessible.
In response to new legislation there are many companies who now specialise in building
websites for Parish Councils. The packages on offer vary, as does the support offered.
Councillor Fletcher Neal has researched a number of providers who can build a new website
specifically for Parish Councils which are compliant to the Transparency Code, GDPR and
Accessibility Requirements:
| Website | Package offered | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.parishcouncilwebsites.co.uk/ | Packages: £469, £649,£829 | Not impressed by their info |
| http://www.parishcouncil.net/ | Packages: £250 +£100 pa, £450 +£200 pa, £500 + £300 pa | Flexible array of features, well presented site with clear cost structure. Rapid response to request for quote |
| https://parishcouncilwebsites.org.uk/ | £599 + £300 pa, £699 + £400 pa | (they offer cheaper packages but these are not GDPR compliant) |
| https://parish-council.website/ | £299, £399, £499 | No pricing on page Somerset web design co. rather than specialist. |
| https://www.jkeparishcouncilwebsites.co.uk/ | £450 +£125 hosting pa, £650 + £125 hosting pa, maintenance extra | Rapid response by phone, pragmatic approach. Use Wordpress as base. |
|
https://www.xreflow.co.uk/services /ParishCouncilWebsites/ |
No pricing on page |
Cost implications:
The initial cost of a new website up to £1000 is accounted for in the agreed budget for 2020/2021 and ongoing hosting packages are in the region of £100-£400 per annum.
Recommendation:
That the Parish Council agrees for the Parish Clerk to further research the best solutions currently available and to secure a contract with a reputable supplier to provide a website which is compliant to the Transparency Code, GDPR and Accessibility Regulations within the agreed budget of £1000.