Aubergine

Parish Council WCAG compliant website service

There are three solutions available for councils to use our WCAG 2.1AA compliant website service:

1) Option 1: The BMKALC Member service: For councils with small precepts who are looking for a website solution that meets both WCAG 2.1AA accessibility and Transparency Code requirements only. Full details of the package below.

2) Option 2: For BMKALC Members who wish to meet WCAG2.1AA accessibility and Transparency Code
requirements, and to use their website as a place to communicate other news and information to their
community.

3) Option 3: For BMKALC Members who are a larger parish or town and need to meet the above requirements whilst also providing a full online experience, such as taking online payments, selling tickets and more.

Option 1 – The small parish compliant website service

Who is the package for?

The Small Parish Council WCAG 2.1AA compliant website service has been created specifically for small parish councils with smaller precepts <£25k and has been designed to meet WCAG 2.1AA website accessibility requirements and provide the web pages in order to meet the Transparency Code.

What is included?

The package being offered to members costs £199 + VAT per year and provides:

1) A WCAG 2.1AA compliant website that meets all accessibility standard requirements. The underlying system is maintained by Aubergine to ensure ongoing and continued compliance of the website framework with the accessibility guidelines as they change.

2) The website can include your logo, if you have one.

3) An admin area for the clerk to edit the council’s pages, including the following regulatory-required pages in line with the Transparency Code: Meeting dates, Minutes & Agendas, Finance, AGAR + asset register, Councillors & ROI, Policies & procedures, Contact information, Enquiry form. You will also have access to a compliance Accessibility Statement template and Privacy Policy template.

4) The website system is GDPR-compliant.

5) The website is optimised for tablet and mobile as well as desktop/laptop computers.

6) The website is easy to administer, using the popular WordPress framework.

7) Hosted on secure, UK-based web servers.

8) Quick, simple setup and comprehensive training videos to get a your parish’s site up and running.

9) You can use your own domain name (e.g yourparishcounciladdress.gov.uk) to direct to your platform pages or, if you do not have one, you can simply us the one we create for you on the platform (e.g bucksparishes.gov.uk/parishcouncilname); we can also register a new domain for you.

10) Access to a dedicated WCAG Learning Centre library for the platform that contains 15+ short, helpful videos.

11) Regular email newsletters from our Accessibility Experts to help keep you up to date with tips and guidance on how to keep your website accessible.

12) Help & support from our team of 11 who are all experts in the field of accessibility and the web.

The platform is a place where many of the small parish councils in Bucks will have their individual, compliant web presence and you will be given a unique web address to share to parishioners.

Web visitors and clerks will be able to see the other small parish council pages so as to connect and keep in touch with other parishes and clerks in Bucks, via a parish directory page.

For those parishes that require a more fuller web provision that can encompass information such as
Neighbourhood Plans, events or news, a larger, more feature-filled package is available and can be upgraded to at any point in the future (see Option 2 and 3).

The cost is £199 + VAT per year and no set up charge.

If you require a domain name or require one to be registered this carries a fee of £30 + VAT per year for all domains except .gov.uk – these are charged at £100 + VAT per year (some restrictions & requirements apply for the use of these.)

To see a example, visit www.dorsetparishes.gov.uk and then select ‘Farnham Parish Council’ – everything you see, you have access to use on the system.

To arrange this for your parish council, contact Aubergine on 01525 373020 or email
mark.tomkins@aubergine262.com

Option 2

For BMKALC members who require a WCAG 2.1AA compliant website solution that has fuller features and the ability to further grow the website with news, events, manage a Neighbourhood Plan and add more pages to the site yourself, our standard WCAG 2.1AA website package designed specifically with parish and
town councils in mind starts at £800 + VAT set up with an annual cost of £199 + VAT.

Option 3

For BMKALC members who require an accessible website service that provides the council with the ability to communicate and offer services such as bookings for events, venues and online payment solutions. This service starts at £1075 + VAT set up with many additional options available.

Full details and how to enquire can be found here:

https://www.aubergine262.com/wcag-compliantwebsites-for-public-bodies/Who are Aubergine?

Established in 2002, Aubergine’s management team have over 30 years’ experience in website design and coding. We are an 11-strong team of designers and developers based in Leighton Buzzard. We’ve worked with organisations such as The UN, GambleAware, The Mayor’s Fund For London and the Society for Local Council Clerks, and councils of varying sizes from Watford Borough Council to Eaton Bray Parish Council.

We are Cyber Essentials certified, JISC authorised to manage all .gov, .mod, .nhs & .sch and Authority related domains, Official Crown Commercial Suppliers and official Google Partners.

We speak and advise on website accessibility for many Associations around the country and are official partners of SLCC and work with NALC on website accessibility awareness.

Guidance and help

For all the details on our organisation and our WCAG 2.1AA website services for councils, please visit:

https://www.aubergine262.com/wcag-compliant-websites-for-public-bodies/ or if you would like to speak to one of our experts, contact Mark Tomkins on mark.tomkins@aubergine262.com to make an appointment to discuss your specific questions or requirements.