Accessibility Statement for Gardeners Merton
Gardeners Merton is committed to making our website accessible and usable for everyone, including people with disabilities. We want customers in the Gardeners Merton area and beyond to be able to find information about our gardening services and use our online content without barriers. This accessibility statement explains the steps we are taking, the standards we aim to meet, and how you can contact us about any accessibility issues.
Our Accessibility Commitment
We are working towards full compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 at AA level. These internationally recognised guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with a wide range of disabilities, including visual, hearing, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. By following these guidelines, we also aim to improve the website experience for all visitors, including older users and people accessing our gardening information on different devices.
Standards and Features We Aim to Support
Our goal is to provide a consistent and user-friendly experience across the Gardeners Merton website by using clean, semantic HTML, logical heading structures, and clear labels. We aim to ensure that content and navigation are predictable, understandable, and compatible with assistive technologies where possible. We regularly review new content and features to check that they align with accessibility best practice.
Screen Reader Support
The Gardeners Merton website is being developed so that key information can be accessed using screen-reader software. We aim to provide meaningful page titles, descriptive headings, and alternative text for important images that convey information about our gardening services. Wherever possible, content is presented clearly, with simple language, consistent terminology, and clear instructions so that screen-reader users can understand and operate the site effectively.
Keyboard Navigation
We are working to ensure that the Gardeners Merton website can be navigated using only a keyboard. This includes the ability to move through menus, forms, and interactive sections using standard keyboard commands such as the Tab, Shift plus Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. We aim to provide a visible focus indicator so that users can always see which element is currently selected, making it easier to move around the site without a mouse.
Text, Colour and Layout
We aim to use readable fonts, sufficient colour contrast, and a simple layout across our Gardeners Merton pages. Our intention is that text is large enough to read comfortably and that content remains usable when text size is increased in the browser. Colour is not used as the only way to convey important information, so that people with colour vision deficiencies can still understand the content.
Ongoing Improvements
Accessibility is an ongoing process. We continue to review and update the Gardeners Merton website to identify and fix issues that might affect people with disabilities. When we introduce new features or gardening content, we aim to design and test them with accessibility in mind. As standards and technologies change, we will adjust our approach so that we can offer a more inclusive online experience.
Accessibility Limitations
Some older content or third party elements on the Gardeners Merton website may not yet fully meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards. In such cases, we will try to provide alternative formats or accessible options on request. We welcome feedback from users who encounter problems, as this helps us identify and prioritise improvements.
Contact for Accessibility Requests
If you have difficulty using any part of the Gardeners Merton website, or if you need gardening service information in a more accessible format, you can contact us with details of your request and the page or section you are trying to access. Please tell us about the assistive technology you use, if any, and the nature of the problem you are experiencing. We will review your message and respond as soon as we reasonably can, working with you to provide the information or assistance you need in an accessible way.
We value inclusive access for everyone in the Gardeners Merton area and are committed to improving our website so that all visitors can find, understand, and use our gardening information and services.
