Gardening Wanstead Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement outlines how Gardening Wanstead and related Wanstead gardening resources strive to be inclusive for everyone in the local community. We are committed to ensuring our content and services for gardening in Wanstead are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. This document describes the standards we follow, the features we provide, and how you can request changes or alternative formats.

Our goal is to meet internationally recognised accessibility benchmarks. We aim for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across our online content and outreach materials for Wanstead green spaces. Implementation covers visual design, headings and structure, readable language, and clear navigation that supports volunteers, local gardeners and community members with diverse needs.

To support people using assistive technology we provide robust screen-reader support, semantic HTML, and ARIA where appropriate. Key technical features include:

• Adherence to WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria where feasible;
• Clear keyboard navigation patterns, including skip links and logical tab order;
• High contrast and scalable text to support low-vision users;
• Proper headings, lists and labels for consistent screen-reader interpretation.

We test for compatibility with major screen readers and common browsers to reduce barriers for people accessing Wanstead gardening resources. Our content creators and volunteers follow an accessibility checklist when publishing event pages, plant lists, maps and educational material so that everyone in Wanstead can participate in community gardening activities.

Our approach includes regular manual testing alongside automated tools. Keyboard navigation receives special attention: every interactive control can be reached and used without a mouse, visual focus indicators are maintained, and form controls are labelled clearly. In addition, we provide captions or transcripts for audio where relevant and aim to make downloadable documents accessible.

We recognise there are areas that may need improvement. Some legacy files, third-party widgets, or embedded map content may not fully meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards yet. When such limitations occur we document them, prioritise remediation, and provide alternatives where possible, such as accessible summaries or plain-text versions of content.

Contact for accessibility requests

If you have trouble accessing any part of our Wanstead gardening information or require a document in another format, please contact our accessibility team using the contact options available on this site. We welcome reports about accessibility barriers and will work with you to provide the information in a suitable format.

When contacting us, please include details about the content you need, the format you require, and any assistive technologies you use. We aim to respond to accessibility requests promptly and to resolve issues as quickly as possible; we normally aim to reply within 10 working days. If more time is needed we will keep you informed of progress.

We are committed to continuous improvement for gardening in Wanstead and the wider Wanstead community. Training for staff and volunteers, periodic audits, and community engagement help shape our accessibility roadmap. For transparency, we review this statement periodically and update it to reflect technical changes or new commitments.