Olivia Robinson, Ministry Experience Scheme Intern at St George’s, Tufnell Park, describes the process of improving the accessibility of their church website.
At St George & All Saints Church (known informally as St George’s, Tufnell Park), improving accessibility has been the key focus of a major website redesign. These changes now ensure that we, the church team, can offer greater digital accommodation to a wider range of people, including those with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments.
St George’s is a member of the Inclusive Church Network, and we are actively committed to help achieve ICN’s vision for all churches: To make inclusion a fundamental part of our proclamation of the Gospel. This work must extend beyond the pulpit, however. As the digital age reaches an uncertain zenith, small parish churches must operate like larger, tech-savvy ones. Many first-time visitors gain their initial impression of St George’s through its digital footprint. Therefore, we cannot dismiss its importance as our online presence steadily grows.
The necessity for our website’s renovation was visible in recent statistics obtained by our website software, Squarespace. Over the past year, St George’s experienced significant growth both in its digital engagement and reach. Between 1 September 2025 and 27 April 2026, St George’s saw a 63% increase in website visits and a 65% increase in new visitors, year-on-year. Beginning in autumn 2025, St George’s began posting more frequently on its social media platforms, creating digital notices for all events, and continuing its use of online third-party platforms for event hiring and parking purposes. Yet, it became clear that our digital communications needed to reflect our inclusive vision for the church.
Collaboration with John Beauchamp, Diocesan Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London, began earlier this year to audit our website and locate areas to improve. Several issues were noted for users that utilise screen readers, which read website content aloud for those with visual impairments. This feedback, as well as additional comments from St George’s Accessibility Group, provided a clear framework for three major adjustments across our website.
Implementing Alternative (alt text) Sitewide
Alternative Text, often abbreviated to alt text, is short, descriptive phrases that provide equivalent information for non-text content (images, videos, etc.). Alt text ensures that anyone accessing the content through assistive software is receiving a complementary understanding of the message and/or visuals being communicated. Across more than thirty-five pages active on St George’s website, alt text has been added to our images and slideshows. From an explanation of each station in our Stations of the Cross, to descriptions of our and affiliated organisations’ logos, we seek for our messages to be clear, regardless of how people experience the website.
Sienna Accessibility Widget
The Sienna Accessibility Widget has been introduced to allow visitors to customise text size, contrast, fonts, and other visual settings to meet their individual needs. The widget operates entirely on the user’s device and does not collect personal data, track users, or deploy cookies. This client-side approach aligns well with GDPR expectations and with the Church of England’s commitment to safeguarding personal privacy. Sienna supports several aspects of recognised accessibility guidance, including elements of WCAG 2.1, such as text resizing, colour contrast, visible keyboard focus, and motion controls. It should be noted that this widget is used as a supporting tool for each visitor’s experience and cannot meet all WCAG 2.1 guidelines. While it cannot address every accessibility need, Sienna provides a practical way for users to tailor the website to their preferences. The software was easily integrated into St George’s website by creating a comprehensive code line in the website footer, ensuring that every page contains the features and functions of the widget. A small banner appears at the top of each webpage, directing users to the blue icon, which, when clicked, offers access to these accommodation features. Users can select their own preferences, and Sienna will maintain these choices until the browser tab is closed.
Accessibility Welcome Video
Finally, a short access video has been created to help new visitors understand the building/facilities, and accessibility arrangements before attending a service or event at St George’s. Located on the access page, the three-minute video offers a complete overview of entrances and exits, restroom facilities, parking, various seating options, signposting for assistance, and more. For individuals with hearing or visual impairments, the video has been fully captioned, and sound enhanced to provide the clearest presentation of the content possible. We hope that this media will provide practical information and communicate a message of welcome before the visitor arrives for their first time at St George’s.
Ongoing Action Items
It has been an immense privilege to work on this project during my internship year with St George’s. Though my post ends in July, it is my hope that access needs continue to be met across our digital platforms and endeavours. Rapid changes in technology and communication preferences mean that digital communication, like all forms of ministry, must remain an ongoing project. I have therefore created the following goals and action items for future website continuation and growth.
- Regularly update St George’s website to ensure all information remains accurate, timely, and relevant.
- Provide ongoing maintenance of accessibility features, including the consistent addition of appropriate alt text to all new images.
- Monitor and refine accessibility tools as the website develops, recognising accessibility as a continuous, long-term commitment rather than a one-off task.
- Continue our work with the Diocese of London and their disability ministry initiatives to receive the latest guidance and advice.
- Provide an annual update to the Accessibility Group and to the PCC to mark progress and to report the status of St George’s website.
Prioritising user access features in website design may appear tedious or superficial, but its effect on website users and the inclusive message it communicates offer quite the opposite. Though a nascent ministry form, I expect its relevance to skyrocket in the coming decade, particularly with the acceleration of artificial intelligence’s capabilities, and changing outreach trends in the Church of England. Dynamic and uncertain, yes, but inclusive website design honours the imperative of our Gospel message to “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation”—our digital sphere now an extension of Christ’s urgent instruction (Mk 16.15).
This article was written for the Summer 2026 edition of the Disability Ministry newsletter from the Diocese of London.
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