Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to bartshealth.nhs.uk.

This website is run by Barts Health NHS Trust. The content is designed for everyone to find, read, and understand. It is compatible with assistive technologies and developed to meet the accessibility standards outlined in this statement. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

For example, it 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 have made every attempt to make our 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 is this website

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

  • Some older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Some of our images are missing alternative text
  • Some images of text are used across the site that might be difficult to interpret using screen reader software
  • Some form fields may not have an autocomplete option available by default

Feedback and contact information

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

There is a process in place that will acknowledge your contact, tell you who is dealing with it and give you a timescale by which you can expect a reply.

An English speaker will take details of what you need and arrange a translation or interpreting service for you. You may need an English-speaking friend or a family member to help you with this.

We may not be able to meet your requirements immediately, but we will try to provide an interpreter (or translation service) to help you as quickly as possible.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

  • We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: bartshealth.communications@nhs.net
  • If you have reported a problem with our website or asked for an alternative format, but you are not happy with our response, you can use our complaints process to register your difficulty

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

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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

Compliance status

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

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software. These do not meet the following WCAG criteria:

  • 1.1.1 Non-text content
  • 1.4.1 Use of colour 
  • 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum)
  • 1.4.4 Resize text 
  • 1.4.5 Images of text 
  • 1.4.10 Reflow
  • 2.2.2 Pause, stop, hide

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. We are reviewing the process and prioritising making sure our documents are as accessible as possible.

Some images do not have alternative text and some images of text that are used across the site might be difficult to interpret using screen reader software or be translated. We have had an internal process and training agreed so that all website editors now add alternative text when uploading images to the website, as well as adding them retrospectively.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have referral forms published as Word 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.

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)

We make every effort to ensure all GIF’s that are placed on our website can be paused, end after five seconds and have alternative text attached to them. We are aware that the pause button on a small number of GIF's of low contrast and cannot be seen clearly. We are reviewing this with our website provider.

Third-party content

Our website contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we endeavour to work with the third party to improve its accessibility.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are continuously working to address the points listed above. We are working to remove inaccessible documents and to republish them in HTML format. We will include alternative text with all images and videos, and aim to conduct accessibility audits every year.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 6 April 2022. It was last reviewed on 25 January 2024.

This website was last tested in October 2023. The test was completed in conjunction with the Government Digital Service and our CMS provider.