Cleaner Merton Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement explains how the Cleaner Merton website is designed to be usable and accessible for as many people as possible. It covers our approach to accessibility, the standards we aim to meet, where there may still be barriers, and how you can contact us to request support or improvements.

Our commitment to an accessible Cleaner Merton area

Cleaner Merton is committed to providing inclusive digital services for everyone who lives, works, studies, or visits the Cleaner Merton area. Our goal is that all people, including disabled people, older people, and those using assistive technologies, can access information and complete tasks on our site without unnecessary barriers.

We aim for our online services to support the wider work of creating an accessible Cleaner Merton area, so that requesting services, reporting issues, and finding information is as straightforward and equal as possible.

Standards and WCAG 2.1 AA compliance

We aim for the Cleaner Merton website to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 at level AA. These guidelines are an internationally recognised standard for making web content more accessible and usable for everyone. They cover things like readable text, clear structure, predictable navigation, and compatibility with assistive technology.

As we develop new features and content for Cleaner Merton, we apply WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria during design, development, and testing. Where we find pages or functions that do not yet meet the standard, we record the issues, set priorities, and work to fix them in future updates.

Screen-reader and assistive technology support

The Cleaner Merton website is designed to work with a range of screen-readers and other assistive technologies. We use clear headings, meaningful page titles, and descriptive labels on forms where possible, so that users can understand the purpose of each section and control.

Images that add information to the page are given alternative text so that screen-readers can describe them. Decorative images are generally marked so they can be skipped. We aim to use plain, descriptive language and to avoid unnecessary jargon, helping users who rely on text-to-speech, magnification, or simplified layouts.

Keyboard navigation and focus

You should be able to move through most of the Cleaner Merton website using only a keyboard. We work to ensure that links, buttons, and form fields can be reached in a logical order by using the tab, shift plus tab, and arrow keys where appropriate. Interactive elements are designed to show a clear focus state so you can easily see which item is currently selected.

Where we use menus, pop ups, or other advanced controls, we aim to make sure they can be opened, used, and closed with a keyboard alone. We regularly review keyboard navigation to identify and fix any controls that are difficult or impossible to use without a mouse.

Ongoing improvements and known limitations

Some older pages, documents, or third party tools that appear within the Cleaner Merton website may not yet fully meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. In particular, some non HTML documents and embedded services may be harder to use with assistive technology.

We are working to improve these areas over time by updating content, replacing difficult formats, and encouraging our suppliers to meet the same accessibility standards. Accessibility is an ongoing process and part of how we maintain our digital services.

Contact us about accessibility

If you experience any problems using the Cleaner Merton website, or if you need information in a different format that is more accessible to you, you can contact us. Please tell us which page or service you were using, what you were trying to do, and what went wrong, including any assistive technology you use. This information helps us identify issues and plan fixes.

You can also contact us to share suggestions for improving accessibility on the Cleaner Merton website, or to ask questions about our approach to creating an accessible Cleaner Merton area. We review all feedback and, where we can, we will respond and make changes in a reasonable timeframe.

Reviewing this statement

This accessibility statement will be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect changes to the Cleaner Merton website, new features, and improvements to accessibility. We want our digital services to support an accessible Cleaner Merton area and will continue to work towards that goal.