Accessibility Statement for Gardeners in Freezywater

Gardeners Freezywater is committed to ensuring that our gardening services and online information are accessible to as many people as possible. We want residents, businesses, and community organisations in the Freezywater area to be able to find, understand, and use information about our gardening services without barriers.

Our Commitment to Accessibility

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, known as WCAG, version 2.1 level AA. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities, including people who use assistive technologies. By following these standards, we also improve usability for everyone in the Freezywater community, whether they are using a desktop, tablet, or mobile device.

Steps We Are Taking

To support an accessible experience for people searching for gardeners in Freezywater, we are working to:

Ensure that text is clear, readable, and written in straightforward language so that information about our gardening services is easy to understand.

Use consistent layouts and headings so visitors can quickly find information about services, appointments, and availability in the Freezywater area.

Maintain sufficient colour contrast between text and backgrounds so that content remains legible for users with low vision or colour blindness.

Provide meaningful page titles and headings that describe the purpose of each page and section.

Screen Reader Support

We strive to make our website work well with popular screen reader software. We aim to:

Use descriptive headings and subheadings to help users who navigate by heading levels understand the structure of each page.

Add informative text for images where they communicate important information about gardening services, tools, or examples of work in Freezywater.

Ensure that links and interactive elements have clear, descriptive labels so that users know where each element will take them or what it will do.

Keyboard Navigation

Our website is being designed and updated so that it can be navigated without a mouse. This is important for users who rely on keyboard-only access or alternative input devices. We are working to:

Allow users to move through content and interactive elements using the Tab, Shift plus Tab, Enter, and arrow keys.

Provide a clear and visible focus indicator, so users can see which link, button, or form field is currently selected.

Avoid keyboard traps by ensuring that users can always move both into and out of interactive components.

Ongoing Improvements

We recognise that accessibility is an ongoing process. As we update information about our gardeners and services in Freezywater, we continue to audit pages against WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. When we introduce new features, we review them for accessibility from the earliest stages of design.

Limitations and Known Issues

Some older content or documents may not fully meet current accessibility standards, especially material published before accessibility checks were introduced. Where we find issues that affect people in the Freezywater area who need accessible gardening information, we will prioritise fixing or replacing that content.

Requesting Information in an Accessible Format

If you experience any difficulty using our website, accessing information about gardeners in Freezywater, or booking our services because of an accessibility barrier, you can contact us to request support. You may ask for information in a different format, such as large print, simple text, or another format that better meets your needs. You can also let us know about any part of the website that is hard to use with a screen reader, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technology.

How We Handle Accessibility Feedback

When you contact us about an accessibility issue, we will review your request and aim to respond within a reasonable timeframe. We will explain what we can do to help and, where possible, will work to remove or reduce the barrier you have reported. Feedback from people in the Freezywater community is important to us and helps us improve both our gardening services and our online information.

Review of This Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement will be reviewed regularly as we improve our website and services for gardeners in Freezywater. Updates will reflect new features, changes to accessibility standards, and the feedback we receive from users.