Accessibility

In April 2023 NHS England merged with Health Education England and NHS Digital to form a new organisation. We are reviewing our legacy website estate to simplify the experience and improve accessibility for our users. 

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. 

For example, that means you should be able to: 

• use your web browser to change colours, contrast levels, and fonts 
• zoom in up to 400% with text staying visible on the screen, and most images scaling without resolution loss 
• navigate most of the website using a keyboard 
• navigate most of the website using speech recognition software 
• read most of the website using a screen reader, including the latest versions of JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver 
• read most of the website on devices without a screen, like a braille computer 
• use the website even if Javascript is switched off 
• access the website using a mobile or tablet

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. Some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.

We know that parts of this website aren’t fully accessible. For example: 

• some headings are tagged incorrectly or follow an incorrect structure 
• some link names are not clearly defined or are duplicated 
• some links are redundant 
• some content cannot be read by a screen reader 
• some images do not have alternative text descriptions 
• some components display low contrast 
• some tables do not have headers 
• some content is not displayed correctly when zoomed or shown on a mobile device 
• some video is not labelled correctly or does not have transcripts 
• some button names are not clear 
• some skip links do not work correctly or there are problems with focus 
• page pagination is not optimised for screen readers 
• many pages are not optimised for assisted technology with the correct tags 
• a large number of old publication documents are in PDF format, and haven't been designed for accessibility 
• some content is embedded in our website, such as maps and videos, and you cannot easily scale these on screen (but you can open a full screen version) 
• data visualisation tools embedded in the website currently use inaccessible technologies, such as PowerBI and Tableau 

If you need information on this website in a different format like an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille email [email protected] or call 0300 303 5678. 

We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible. 

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of the website.

If you find any problems not listed on this page, or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, email [email protected] with details of problems you have encountered.

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, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). 

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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below. 

Disproportionate burden assessments that we have carried out are published on our disproportionate burden register. 

The items listed below are non-compliant. Reasons are provided. 

2.4.4 Link Purpose

• Link names are not clear - affected links with link names are not clearly defined 
• Two or more links with same names and different destinations 
• Link names with full stop 
• Redundant links - download component has redundant links 
• Button names are not clear - button name is read out by the screen reader with 
•  '???text.sr-only-link???' in some cases 
• Pagination doesn’t work well with screen readers - the page links are all read out together like (1 link 2 link 3 link...)

Many older PDF files contain broken links which do not resolve - we do not intend to resolve these as it is a disproportionate burden for files which are no longer in active use. 

PDFs are not able to comply with the requirements of the web accessibility standard, and we do not generally upload new PDFs. Where we do create new PDFs, these usually accompany a HTML version.

Our site contains a large number of PDFs created in previous years. Where these are no longer being updated, we do not intend to recreate them in accessible versions as this would be a disproportionate burden. 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.

We do not generally add new PDFs to our site.

There are some exceptions:

• we add some PDFs as downloads of reports or publications, but where a web page version is also available 
• our annual reports, which must, by law, be laid before parliament in a printed version, and then appear unaltered 
• our directions and data provision notices which must, by law, include a signature in order to be valid 
• downloads intended for print purposes, such as posters 

We also have a number of forms in Microsoft Word format, which are not accessible.

1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)

• Video has no transcript - video content uses automated closed captioning and transcripting, and this is often inaccurate. Up to date guidance has been produced to ensure that videos added to the website from September 2024 meet WCAG 2.2 guidelines. We acknowledge there will be some videos added prior to that date that do not include closed captions or adequate transcripts
• Our general approach is to provide alternative text descriptions for images and for more complex images, both alt text and body text descriptions are provided. We are, however, aware, there may some complex images that do not have detailed text descriptions to accompany them. In addition to alt text, body text descriptions are provided

1.1.1 Non-text Content 

• Alt text does not match with the image - alt text does not match with the image in some cases 
• Alt text is not read by the screen reader - alt text is available but is not captured by the screen reader in some cases 
• Image is not captured by the screen reader - reads out only the title and skips the image and its content 
• Alt text is not read by the screen reader clearly - some images and videos are added are split into two and read out 

1.3.1 Info and Relationships

• Headings are not captured - some headings are not captured in the webpage by screen readers or are missing 
• Heading structure is not proper - some headings do not follow the correct structure 
• Tables do not have headers 
• A group of check boxes or radio buttons is not enclosed in a fieldset - a group of check boxes or radio buttons is not enclosed in a fieldset

1.3.4 Orientation

• Heading is not displayed fully in mobile view 
• Video is not scaled in size in mobile view 
• Title is not displayed fully in mobile view 
• The download button overlaps the logo in mobile view 
• Lost content - page title is not fully displayed in mobile view 

1.4.10 Reflow

• Headings display affected when the page is zoomed in to 300% and above 
• Lost content at 250+% zoom - the main heading of the page is not fully displayed when the page is zoomed to 250 + zoom level
• Lost content at 400% - page title is not fully displayed at 400% zoom level

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

• Low contrast - Code block - content inside the code block shows low contrast error

2.4.6 Headings and Labels

• Empty headings 
• No headings/labels for embedded video

We are aware that we have PowerBI and Tableau visualisations available on the website. Neither of these software items are accessible, and cannot be made accessible.

In some cases the information is not easily available to users in an accessible format. We are currently investigating accessible visualisation tools. If you require information from these tools, email: [email protected] 

2.4.1 Bypass Blocks

• Broken skip links 
• Menu tabs - aria-labelled by to name regions and landmarks 
• Find a service - bypass blocks of content  
• Some pages do not use aria-labels to provide labels for objects  

2.4.3 Focus Order 

• Focus order is illogical - focus order not in the correct order

2.4.7 Focus Visible 

• Some focus indicators are either cannot be visually located, or are highly visible 

2.5.3 Label in Name 

• Some content cannot be captured by screen readers 
• Labels that include text or images of text 
• Label in name changes presentation of user interface 
• Content not captured by the screen reader 

3.3.2 Labels or Instructions 

• Missing form label - recaptcha does not have a form label 
• Form label is not associated with a form control

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value 

• Frame does not have a title 

PDFs and other documents 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. However, if there is a specific document that you would like to request in HTML format we will do our best to oblige where possible and practicable. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards. 

Live video 

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations, however to ensure accessibility, we record our live videos and caption them, these can be found on our YouTube channel. 

In April 2023 NHS England merged with Health Education England and NHS Digital to form a single organisation.

We are currently in the planning phase of a major project to create a new consolidated NHS England website and improve accessibility to ensure compliance with the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

We will update this page with current information about the improvements we make.

This statement was first prepared on 12 December 2011. It has undergone regular review and was last updated on 14 November 2024.

This website was last accessibility tested in August 2024.