Vision ICT is aware of the International WCAG 2.1AA Standards which have been in force for around 10 years. The new regulations are a well needed update to ensure that Councils are conforming to the required standards. The main difference with the new regulation is that as a council, you now have to put in an Accessibility Statement why your website may not be fully meeting the standards, what you intend to do about it, how you can be contacted if a visitor does not find your website accessible and to state a time by which you will respond.

We are currently looking in detail at the new requirements. Our websites were, within the earlier regulations, at the required level 2. We will be going through to see if any changes are required for the future.

However, there are areas which you do need to always be aware of to maintain the accessibility of your site once you take control and they are:

• Always ensure you add a text alternative when adding pictures your site.
• Always ensure there is a clear colour contrast to the page and wording that you place on it.

We will be producing another Blog for you to read in the near future to provide a detailed background as accessibility is a potentially complicated process.