Accessibility statement for Emergency Department Digital Integration (EDDI)

This statement describes:

• how accessible the EDDI product is
• what we are doing to meet the regulations
• what to do if you have a problem

We are committed to making EDDI as accessible as possible for everyone, including those with visual, hearing, cognitive and motor impairments. We are constantly working towards improving accessibility to ensure we provide equal access to all our users.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. This is an external site with suggestions to make your computer or device more accessible.

We know some parts of EDDI are not fully accessible, including:

• some parts may not be fully compatible with screen readers and keyboard-only users
• content cannot be magnified without loss of information or functionality
• voice activation users may not be able to reference some custom components by name
• there is no mechanism to bypass blocks of content that is present across multiple pages
• users are not informed of inactive timeouts

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of our product.

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact the NHS EDDI team via the National Service Desk by calling 0300 303 035 or emailing [email protected].

When contacting us, please provide:

• the page URL (web page address)
• detail of the issue encountered
• detail of any software or assistive technology being used (for example a browser or screen reader)

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations.

If you're not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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

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

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.1 success criteria:

Guideline 1.1 text alternatives

1.1.1 Non-text Content (A)

Custom components, such as the notification banner, have been implemented which are hidden from assistive technology. Users may find they are unable to operate custom components via a keyboard. Voice activation users will be unable to reference these components by name or role.

Guideline 1.3 adaptable

1.3.1 Information & Relationships (A)

Information and relationships, such as the capacity management table, are conveyed via visual styling alone and are not programmatically determinable. Users may find that there is a lack of structural information, context and relationships within the data.

Some pages have no landmarks to indicate where the main page content begins. Additionally, the purpose of headings acting as captions for other headings may not be presented to screen reader users.

Some visible labels are not programmatically associated with corresponding components. Voice activation users may be unable to reference these components by name and screen reader users will encounter these as ‘unlabelled’ controls.

Form controls may not have the correct semantic grouping. Users may find form groups without labels and accessible names.

Guideline 1.4 distinguishable

1.4.10 Reflow (AA)

Users may find that some content cannot be magnified without loss of information or functionality.

Guideline 2.1 keyboard accessible

2.1.1 Keyboard (A)

Custom components such as the ‘Copy NHS number’ function may not be accessible with assistive technology. Users may find they are unable to focus or interact with custom components. Screen reader users may not have any indication of what these components are and their purpose.

Guideline 2.2 enough eime

2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (A)

Users may encounter session time limits at multiple stages.

Guideline 2.4 navigable

2.4.2 Page Titled (A)

Page titles do not reflect the heading-levels and do not uniquely reflect the contents of individual pages.  Users may find they are unable to determine the subject or purpose of page content.

2.4.3 Focus Order (A)

Focusable components do not receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability. Users may find that focus lands on the main page content rather than the top of the page.

2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A)

There are multiple links with the same link text. Users may find they are unable to determine the purpose of these links, together with the programmatically determined link context.

Guideline 3.3 input assistance

3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A)

Some components do not have visible labels or accessible names to help users identify the purpose of components or reference them by name. Voice activation users will not be able to reference these components to their assistive technology by name.

Guideline 4.1 compatible

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A)

Custom components lack an accessible role and are hidden from assistive technology. Keyboard users may find they are unable to operate these components. Voice activation users will be unable to reference these components by name or role to their assistive technology.

4.1.3 Status Messages (A)

Some status message do not have a programmatically determinable role. Screen reader users may not be informed that content is changing, and assistive technology may not receive focus.

The issues above will be addressed as part of our regular and continuous commitment to improve the accessibility of the EDDI product.

The EDDI product was audited by the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) on 23 November 2020. The product was assessed against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 to give accurate feedback on any non-compliant issues.

The product was tested by a team of experienced auditors and analysts, many of whom are disabled individuals and users of adaptive technology.

Manual accessibility checking was conducted by a team of disabled individuals, using a range of adaptive technologies (hardware and software designed to facilitate the use of computers by people with disabilities).

Accessibility tests were constrained to desktop operating systems, browsers and assistive technologies as currently, there is no use case for EDDI to be used on a mobile or tablet device, without an NHS smartcard. If the product gets extended then a new audit will be carried out.

Technical auditing involved the application of a number of technical auditing and standards compliance assessment tools.

The issues identified as part of the independent audit by DAC are held on our list of items for future development. We are committed to becoming WCAG 2.1 AA compliant and as such, issues are actively prioritised and resolved.

This statement was prepared on 15 December 2020.