Accessibility Policy

East Cheshire Hospice is committed to ensuring that our website is accessible to all users, regardless of ability or technology. We strive to provide an inclusive online experience that reflects our core values of compassion, respect, and dignity. This policy outlines our approach to maintaining and improving accessibility in alignment with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Our Commitment

We recognise the importance of digital accessibility and are dedicated to making our website usable by as many people as possible. This includes individuals with disabilities such as visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments.

Accessibility Standards

Our website aims to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, which cover four key principles to ensure content is:

• Perceivable: Information and interface elements must be presented in ways that all users can perceive.
• Operable: The interface must be usable and navigable by all users.
• Understandable: Content must be clear and easy to understand.
• Robust: Content must be compatible with assistive technologies and evolving web standards.

Key Features To support accessibility, our website incorporates the following features:

• Responsive design for optimal viewing on various devices.
• Keyboard navigability for users who cannot use a mouse.
• Text alternatives for non-text content such as images.
• Captions and transcripts for multimedia content.
• Clear and consistent navigation throughout the site.
• Adjustable text size and colour contrast options.
• Minimal use of flashing or blinking elements.

Ongoing Improvement Accessibility is an ongoing process. We regularly audit our website to identify and resolve accessibility issues. Feedback from users plays a crucial role in helping us improve.

Third-Party Content While we strive to ensure third-party content on our site is accessible, we cannot guarantee full compliance. However, we make efforts to work with partners who share our commitment to accessibility.

Feedback and Contact We value feedback on the accessibility of our website. If you experience any issues or have suggestions for improvement, please contact us:

• Phone: 01625 433477
• Email: marketing@echospice.org.uk
• Postal Address: East Cheshire Hospice, Millbank Drive, Macclesfield Cheshire, SK10 3DR

Policy Review This policy is reviewed annually to ensure continued compliance with accessibility standards and best practices.

Last Updated: 26.03.2025