Accessibility Statement — Gardening Finchley

Gardening Finchley is committed to making gardening in Finchley welcoming and usable for everyone. This accessibility statement explains how our Finchley gardening services and online materials aim to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards and how we support people who use assistive technologies. We regularly review our content and interfaces to improve usability for residents, volunteers and visitors.

We design our pages and local event information with screen-reader support in mind, implementing semantic HTML, ARIA landmarks where appropriate, and meaningful link text. Our approach includes descriptive headings, properly labelled form controls, and avoidance of purely visual instructions so that a person using a screen reader can plan and participate in community gardening activities without barriers.

Keyboard navigation is a key part of our accessibility strategy. All interactive elements — menus, sign-up forms, and event calendars — are keyboard operable, and focus order follows a logical, predictable sequence. We provide visible focus indicators and skip links to help keyboard and switch-device users move quickly to the main content.

Standards, testing and ongoing improvements

We aim for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA across the site and related digital materials that support our Finchley gardening activities. Where full compliance is not yet achieved, we document exceptions and prioritise fixes. Our testing mix includes automated tools, manual keyboard-only checks, and screen reader testing to detect issues that automated scans may miss.

Accessibility features we maintain include:

• High contrast colour combinations and adjustable text sizes.
• Clear, consistent navigation and logical content structure for easier scanning.
• Transcripts and captions for recorded talks or videos about urban gardening practices whenever available.

We also monitor event venues used for community gardening in Finchley to ensure physical accessibility where possible, such as clear paths, seating, and suitable surfaces. When a venue has limitations, we state those clearly in event information so participants can make informed choices.

Our commitment to inclusive communication means we provide alternative formats on request. If you need printed materials in a larger font, braille, plain language summaries, or other formats related to Gardening Finchley content, we will make reasonable adjustments.

To support all visitors, we follow good practices for content clarity: plain language summaries, meaningful headings, and descriptive link text that explains the destination or action. We avoid time-based media that lacks alternatives and provide clear instructions for completing forms and registering for community planting sessions.

If you experience any accessibility barriers or need assistance, please contact our accessibility coordinator through the channel you normally use to reach us. We cannot provide contact details here, but we will respond promptly and work with you to provide information or arrange reasonable adjustments. We aim to reply within five working days and to resolve urgent accessibility needs faster where possible.