Gardeners Battersea Accessibility Commitment

Gardeners Battersea is committed to making our online content and local services accessible to all visitors and residents in Battersea and surrounding neighbourhoods. This accessibility statement describes how our team approaches inclusive design, how we comply with standards, and the support available to people who need accommodations. We prioritise clarity, usable design and ongoing improvements to our site and local service delivery.

We follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at the AA level for our public content and interactions. Our approach includes regular audits, automated checks and manual testing to identify barriers for people using assistive technologies. The Battersea gardening crew and online editors work together to maintain readable text, logical structure and accessible media alternatives.

Our work for local residents and visitors includes attention to screen-reader support and semantic markup so content is presented in a predictable order. We use clear headings, alt text for meaningful images, and consistent navigation landmarks to support people who rely on a screen reader, including those using narrators or speech output tools.

Keyboard navigation is a priority for people who cannot use a mouse. Our pages and interactive features are operable via keyboard only, with visible focus indicators and logical tab order. We test commonly used flows such as booking a consultation, requesting an accessibility adjustment, and viewing our service descriptions to ensure they are reachable and understandable without pointer devices.

In addition to keyboard support, we implement accessible forms and controls with clear labels, instructions and error handling so that everyone can complete tasks reliably. Where dynamic content appears, we provide announcements and ARIA attributes as needed to keep assistive technologies informed about changes. Our content structure uses lists, headings and landmarks to make scanning and navigation quicker.

Our Battersea gardening team also considers physical access and communication in local appointments. When arranging visits, we encourage advance notices of access needs so we can prepare tools, materials and staff briefings to support a safe, respectful experience for clients and carers.

We perform regular usability testing that includes people using magnification, screen readers and alternative input devices. This helps us identify real-world issues beyond automated checks. Our design and content workflows include plain language practices, scalable fonts, high contrast options, and avoid relying solely on colour to convey important information.

Accessibility is an ongoing commitment: we publish updates when we make significant changes and maintain internal schedules for reviews of content, templates and interactive features. If you encounter a barrier while using our materials or engaging with the Battersea gardeners, please let us know so we can address it promptly and track improvements.

To request an accessibility adjustment or to report a barrier, please contact our Accessibility Officer through the contact options provided on this site or via the appropriate local service channels. We aim to respond within a reasonable timeframe and will work with you to find a suitable solution. Thank you for helping us improve access in Battersea and for your interest in inclusive gardening services.

How we meet standards

• WCAG 2.1 AA compliance: design, content and coding practices aligned to the standard.
• Screen-reader support: semantic HTML, alt text, ARIA where necessary, meaningful link text.
• Keyboard navigation: full operability, visible focus, logical tab order and skip links.
• Readable content: plain language, headings, lists and clear instructions for tasks.

Continual improvement

We review our accessibility practices regularly and welcome input that helps us serve the Battersea community better. This statement was last updated to reflect our current commitments and testing practices, and it will be revised as our work progresses.