The Council Network (TCN) Accessibility Statement

Status: DRAFT, leadership decisions incorporated, pending final legal sign-off

1. Our Commitment to Accessibility

We are committed to making TCN accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. We want all our users to be able to access our services easily, regardless of ability.

This statement explains how accessible TCN is, what we’re doing to improve it, and how to get in touch if something isn’t working for you.

2. What Standard TCN Is Aiming For

TCN’s accessibility commitment is grounded in the Equality Act 2010’s reasonable adjustments duty: ensuring disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage when using the platform. This is an outcome-based commitment.

3. Current Compliance Status

Accessibility is a priority in how TCN is built and maintained. TCN’s accessibility testing is ongoing, and we will publish a tested position here as that testing is completed.

4. Testing Approach

No specific testing method has been committed to yet. This section will be updated once one is chosen.

If an accessibility overlay or widget is ever used, it will be described as a supplementary aid. It will not be presented as the basis for any compliance claim.

5. Known and Likely Limitations

Some content on TCN will not be fully within TCN’s control:

  • Content posted by users (discussion posts, replies, profile bios) may not always meet accessibility standards. TCN cannot enforce formatting on every user post.
  • Embedded third-party Newsfeed content (see Section 5 of the Cookies Policy) will inherit the accessibility properties of the third-party integration and is not fully within TCN’s control.
  • Sponsor-provided content and documents supplied by employers via the Jobs Board may not meet the standard TCN applies to its own pages.
  • TCN’s own Resources/Templates uploads may also not always meet the standard the rest of the platform aims for.

These limitations are disclosed on the same basis across all categories above; no stricter standard applies to any one of them.

6. Reporting an Accessibility Problem

If you find part of TCN difficult to use because of a disability, or need information in a different format, contact us using the details in Section 9. We will respond to accessibility requests as promptly as we can; this statement does not commit to a fixed response timeframe.

If you are not satisfied with our response, the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) can advise on your options under the Equality Act 2010 more generally, and in some cases a claim can be brought in the county court.

7. Feedback

TCN’s admin panel includes a site-wide feedback button feeding an admin inbox. Accessibility reports can use this same channel.

8. Reviewing This Statement

We will review this statement at least annually, and whenever TCN undergoes a significant redesign or adds a major new feature.

9. Contact Us

You can contact us about accessibility at admin@thecouncilnetwork.org.