Accessibility

Accessibility Statement

Highshore School Website

Website

https://highshoreschool.co.uk

Prepared by

Dr Evelina Dimopoulou, Headteacher

Date prepared

June 2026

Date last reviewed

June 2026

Next review due

September 2026 (following independent audit)

Compliance status

Partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA (audit pending)

 

1. What this statement covers

This accessibility statement applies to the website at https://highshoreschool.co.uk.

Highshore School is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (‘the accessibility regulations’). These require public sector websites to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard and to publish an up-to-date accessibility statement.

An accessible high-visibility version of the website is available at https://highshoreschool.co.uk/?highvis. This version is maintained alongside the standard website, contains equivalent content and functionality, and is updated whenever the main website is updated.

 

This statement sets out what is known about the accessibility of the site, what areas require improvement, and how users can get in touch if they experience difficulties. It will be updated following a full independent audit, which is planned for Autumn 2026.

This website is run by Highshore School. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

 

For example, that means you should be able to:

 

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

 

 

2. Compliance status

Compliance status: Partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA

A full independent audit has not yet been completed. The known issues and areas pending review are set out below. This statement will be updated following the audit.

 

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard. The known non-compliances and the areas not yet fully assessed are listed in sections 3 and 4 below.

 

3. Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

 

School Exemption

 

Primary and secondary schools or nurseries are partially exempt from some requirements, except for content needed to access essential services, such as forms for school meal preferences.

3a. Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The following issues have been identified. We are working with our website provider to address them.

 

Known issue

WCAG criterion

Planned action

PDF documents linked from the School Policies and Documents page are not tagged for accessibility, meaning they cannot be read in sequence by screen readers and do not support text resizing or reflow

1.1.1 Non-text content; 1.3.1 Info and relationships; 1.3.2 Meaningful sequence

PDFs to be replaced with accessible versions or supplemented with accessible HTML alternatives by Summer 2027; new documents to be produced in accessible format from Autumn 2026

Some images on the site — including homepage banner and gallery images — may not have descriptive alternative text, meaning users relying on screen readers cannot access the information they convey

1.1.1 Non-text content

Full image alt-text audit to be completed by website provider in Autumn 2026; all informational images to be updated with descriptive alt text

Skip navigation / skip to main content link: the site’s anchor links at the top of each page (‘#’ links) do not consistently function as skip links, making keyboard-only navigation of long navigation menus difficult

2.4.1 Bypass blocks

To be addressed with website provider in Autumn 2026 audit

Colour contrast: the contrast ratio of some text and interactive elements against their backgrounds has not been formally verified against the WCAG 2.1 AA minimum (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text)

1.4.3 Contrast (minimum)

To be formally verified by independent audit, Autumn 2026; any failures to be remediated by website provider

Focus indicators: it has not been confirmed that all interactive elements display a clearly visible focus indicator when navigated by keyboard

2.4.7 Focus visible

To be confirmed by independent audit, Autumn 2026

Keyboard accessibility - Some navigation menus on the standard version of the website may not be fully operable using a keyboard. Users can access equivalent content and functionality through the high-visibility version of the website.

WCAG Success Criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard)

To be confirmed by independent audit, Autumn 2026

 

3b. Content not within scope of the accessibility regulations

The following types of content are exempt from the accessibility regulations:

  • PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018 — these are exempt under the regulations, although we will work to make them accessible where possible
  • Third-party content embedded in the website that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the school — for example, embedded social media feeds (X/Twitter) and Google Maps
  • Content on the website that is provided solely for archiving purposes

 

4. Areas not yet fully assessed

A full independent audit against WCAG 2.1 AA has not yet been completed. The following areas have not yet been formally assessed and may contain further accessibility issues:

  • Screen reader compatibility across all pages and content types
  • Mobile and touch interface accessibility
  • Form accessibility (for example, the contact form and cookie preference controls)
  • Video and multimedia content: any videos published on the site should have captions and audio descriptions; this has not been verified
  • Document accessibility for all linked PDFs and Word documents
  • Cognitive accessibility: whether content is presented in the clearest possible way for users with cognitive disabilities

 

An independent accessibility audit is planned for Autumn 2026. This statement will be updated with the full audit results and a revised remediation plan within one month of the audit being completed.

 

5. What we are doing to improve accessibility

Highshore School is committed to making this website accessible. We are taking the following steps:

  • Commissioning an independent WCAG 2.1 AA audit by Autumn 2026, covering all pages and document types
  • Working with our website provider (Cleverbox) to address the known issues listed above
  • Introducing an accessible-format-first policy for all new documents published from Autumn 2026 — new PDFs and downloadable documents will be produced with accessibility in mind from the point of creation
  • Updating the School Policies and Documents page progressively as documents are renewed, replacing non-accessible PDFs with accessible versions
  • Updating this statement within one month of each audit or significant change to the site

 

6. Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format — including accessible PDF, large print, Easy Read, audio recording, or Braille — please contact us:

 

Email

office@highshore.southwark.sch.uk

Telephone

020 7708 6790

Post

Highshore School, Farmers Road, Camberwell, London SE5 0TW

 

We aim to respond to accessibility requests within 5 working days.

If you contact us with an accessibility concern, we will consider your request and aim to reply within 10 working days.

 

7. Alternative formats and adjustments already available

The following accessibility features are already available on the Highshore website:

  • High Visibility version — available via the link in the website footer, providing higher contrast and simplified layout - https://highshoreschool.co.uk/?highvis
  • Google Translate integration — available on every page, supporting the school’s multilingual community (32 of 161 pupils have a first language other than English, across 16 languages)
  • All paper copies of any document published on the website are available on request from the school office (see contact details above)
  • Symbol-supported and Easy Read versions of key documents are available on request

 

8. Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

 

EASS website

https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

EASS telephone

0808 800 0082

 

9. Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Highshore School is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

 

Technologies used

The Highshore School website relies on the following technologies for conformance with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

 

How the site has been tested

The website has not yet been tested against WCAG 2.1 AA by an independent third party. A preliminary review of the homepage and key pages was conducted internally in June 2026, identifying the issues listed in section 3. An independent audit is planned for Autumn 2026.

The preliminary review checked: page structure and headings, navigation link descriptions, image alt text on the homepage, presence of a skip-to-content mechanism, mobile viewport configuration, and document title clarity.

 

10. Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22/06/2026 It was last reviewed on 22/06/2026

This website was last tested on 22/06/2026 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

The website was tested internally by Evelina Dimopoulou and Dom Fryer, using a combination of third-party automated accessibility tools, and manual keyboard and screen reader testing – It will be reviewed and updated following the planned independent audit in Autumn 2026, and at least annually thereafter, or if there is a significant change to the website.

It will be reviewed and updated following the planned independent audit in Autumn 2026, and at least annually thereafter.