We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser functionality
  • zoom in up to 400 per cent 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
  • interact with most of the website using a screen reader (including recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We also try to make the website text as simple as possible to understand.

If you have a disability, search AbilityNet for "how to" guides to make your device easier to use.

How accessible this website is

We know from several accessibility reports that parts of this website are not fully accessible.

PDFs

Many of our PDFs are not fully accessible to screen reader software.

If you're having problems using these PDFs, contact your GP surgery for advice.

Other parts of the website that are not fully accessible

These include:

  • the pregnancy due date calculator tool, which is difficult to use with screen reader software
  • some online forms that are not easy for screen readers to navigate
  • some links and images that are not self-explanatory to screen reader users
  • our online survey tool, where some screen readers may not announce content correctly and some speech recognition software may not be able to select form fields easily by giving standard verbal commands
  • links to websites or software that we do not own or manage and so cannot guarantee their accessibility

We are actively working to address these issues as part of an ongoing programme to improve the accessibility of this website.

Feedback and contact information

Contact your GP surgery if you have an accessibility query including:

  • if you have any problems accessing information or using this website
  • if you have any positive feedback about this website's accessibility

We aim to respond in 5 working days.

Alternative formats

We've designed our content to be as accessible as possible.

If you need information on this website in a different format, like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille, please contact your GP surgery.

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

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, please contact your GP surgery to report this. This helps us improve.

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you are not happy with our response, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 on legislation.gov.uk (the "accessibility regulations").

Technical information about this website's accessibility

We're committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the accessibility regulations.

Compliance status

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

Non-accessible content

The content that is not accessible is listed below together with an explanation and reference to the relevant WCAG section.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Content visibility

  • Low contrast focus indication style on: links, buttons, form fields, and search components (Non-text contrast 1.4.11)

Screen readers

  • Inaccessible HTML such as empty ARIA (accessible rich internet applications) landmarks, incorrect or broken instances of the ARIA attributes and empty lists or lists with 1 item (Info and relationships 1.3.1)

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We follow best practice and guidance from NHS England (formerly NHS Digital) by using their library of accessible components and design patterns.

New content is designed and built to level AA of WCAG 2.1 – which is NHS England policy

As part of this commitment, we have set up a cross-functional accessibility working group to make sure that accessibility remains at the core of everything we do.

We are making sure that accessibility issues highlighted in this statement are being prioritised and fixed. Measures include:

  • Ensuring forms comply with the relevant standards
  • Providing content as web pages; with PDF versions available to download
  • Continuously reviewing NHS England components and design patterns and applying them to this website