Achieving for Children (AfC) is pleased to announce the launch of their redesigned SEND Local Offer and AfCinfo website. AfC provides children's services for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM)
The website was soft-launched on 7 February at the annual Inclusion Summit event, where professionals in education and health joined parents and carers to highlight developments in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across the borough.
The website redesign was based on feedback to make information more engaging, simpler to navigate and easier to search. The website follows the latest web content accessibility guidelines and is fully optimised for mobile devices.
The SEND Local Offer provides details of support and services for children and young people with SEND aged 0 to 25 years and their families. The Local Offer will continue to grow and evolve and will be regularly updated so that it remains an up-to-date and helpful resource for families and practitioners.
AfC has worked hard to also ensure the website meets the latest standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (known as WCAG 2.2) which are an internationally recognised set of recommendations for improving web accessibility.
The redesign also includes the AfCinfo website. This part of the website covers childcare, school admission policies, procedures for children in employment and entertainment, Family Hubs, safeguarding and child protection as well as support for young people leaving care.
Lin Ferguson, Executive Director of Children's Services and Education at RBWM, said: “I am thrilled that we have launched our redesigned SEND Local Offer and AfCinfo website after listening and responding to feedback from our children, young people and families. The updated Local Offer is a more comprehensive, accessible and user friendly version, and we will continue to review its impact.”
Councillor Amy Tisi, Cabinet member for children’s services, education and Windsor, said: “This popular website includes lots of important information for local families, so ensuring it stays engaging, easy to navigate and up-to-date is important. Achieving for Children, our children’s services partner, has listened to feedback and done a great job in refreshing the online presence. I’d encourage families to check it out.”