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Accessibility Notice

[Note: if the statement is for an app, say ‘mobile application’ instead of ‘website’.]

Accessibility statement for [website name]

[Note: use this section to make a brief, general statement about what the website allows disabled users to do. Base it on the evaluation covered in detail in the ‘Technical information about this website’s accessibility’ section. If you’re not confident that something is accurate, leave it out. If you’re not confident enough to say anything specific here, leave this section out completely.]

This website is run by [name of organisation]. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible this website is

[Note: use this section to provide information that a disabled user can act on – for example, avoid a particular section of the website, or request an alternative version rather than waste time trying to make it work with their assistive technology. Try to list in order of most impact to least impact.]

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • the text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams do not have captions
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
  • there’s a limit to how far you can magnify the map on our ‘contact us’ page

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

  • email [email address]
  • call [phone number]
  • [add any other contact details]

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in [number] days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us [add link to contact details page] for directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: [provide details of how to report these issues to your organisation, and contact details for the unit or person responsible for dealing with these reports].

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018
(the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

[Note: if your organisation is based in Northern Ireland, refer users who want to complain to the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) instead of the EASS and EHRC.]

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us [add link to contact details page].

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

[Note: this form of wording is legally required, so do not change it.]

[Name of organisation] is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

[Note: say that the website is fully compliant if the website meets WCAG 2.1 AA standard in full. Say that it’s partially compliant if it meets most requirements of the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. If it does not meet most requirements of the WCAG 2.1 AA standard, say that it’s not compliant. There’s a legally required form of wording here, so do not change it. The 3 options are as follows:]

This website is fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

This website is not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-accessible sections are listed below.

[Note: delete the options that do not apply.]

Non accessible content

[Note: if the website is fully compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard, you can leave the ‘Non accessible content’ section out.

Otherwise, do not change the ’Non accessible content’ heading or the ‘The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons’ sentence – they’re legally required.

Do not change the ‘Non compliance with the accessibility regulations’, ‘Disproportionate burden’ and ‘Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations’ subheadings: they’re also legally required.

But if you need to list a lot of problems, you can break these subsections up with further subheadings – for example, ‘Navigation and accessing information’ or ‘Interactive tools and transactions’.]

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

[Note: In this subsection, list:

  • accessibility problems
  • which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on
  • when you plan to fix the problem

Do not include any problems where you’re claiming disproportionate burden, or where the problem is outside the scope of the accessibility regulations (those should go in the subsections below).]

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

[Note: in this subsection list:

  • accessibility problems you’re claiming would be a disproportionate burden to fix
  • which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on

Bear in mind that something which is a disproportionate burden now will not necessarily be a disproportionate burden forever. If the circumstances change, your ability to claim disproportionate burden may change too.]

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option). This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.4 (orientation).

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in [rough timing].

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

[Note: in this subsection list:

  • accessibility problems that fall outside the scope of the accessibility regulations
  • which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on]

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix [example of non-essential document].

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions – live).

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on [date]. The test was carried out by [add name of organisation that carried out test, or indicate that you did your own testing].

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test [add link to explanation of how you decided which pages to test].

[Note: you do not have to use this approach to sampling, but you should link to a full explanation of what you tested and how you chose it. If you get a third party auditor to test your website for you, they should include sampling details in test report – so you can just to link to that.]

We tested:

  • our main website platform, available at [url]
  • our campaign microsites, available at [url], [url] and [url]
  • [service name], [service name] and [service name] – services based on a different technical platform but ‘skinned’ to look like our website

[Note: you can have a single accessibility statement that covers multiple domains, or a separate statement for each domain or subdomain. As long as the user can access relevant accessibility information easily from any page on your website.]

You can read the full accessibility test report [add link to report].

[Note: publishing the test report is optional, but doing so may allow you to make your accessibility statement shorter and more focused.]

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

[Note: publishing an accessibility roadmap is optional. It’s a good idea to publish one if you want to be specific about the order you’re planning to tackle accessibility issues, and there’s no space to do so in the accessibility statement itself.]

Our accessibility roadmap [add link to roadmap] shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

[Note: the wording about when the statement was prepared is legally required, so do not change it.]

This statement was prepared on [date when it was first published]. It was last updated on [date when it was last updated].