Accessibility

Accessibility statement for nth.nhs.uk

This accessibility statement applies to nth.nhs.uk.

This website is run by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. 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 browser 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
• Access the website with a mobile or tablet
• 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

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

• Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
• Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
• Some of our videos do not have accurate captions
• Some of the text and links don’t have sufficient colour contrast
• Some imagery may not have text-alternatives (alt-text)

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:

• email nth-tr.communications@nhs.net
• call 01642 383573

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

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us nth-tr.communications@nhs.net 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: nth-tr.communications@nhs.net or call 01642 383573.

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We have audio induction loops in key areas of the organisation, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter both in person, or online which can be booked in advance.

An interpreter can be requested on your behalf by our clinical staff as part of a planned admission. You can contact us before your visit to arrange.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation 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 not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances are listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• 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 January 2021. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
• Some of our videos do not have accurate captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (captions (prerecorded))
  • All Trust videos are uploaded to YouTube in the first instance, which does have an auto-captioning system. However, sometimes these captions do not accurately capture what people may be saying. To address this, we will be editing all video captions on the Trust YouTube account by January 2021 to ensure they are correct.
• Sometimes the sequences in which content is presented are confusing. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence).
  • Clear labelling will be added to pages during the redesign process.
• Not all of the site’s functions can be operated by using the keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard).
  • Some of our online form drop-down menus are not usable with a keyboard. This will be addressed in the new website development.
• Appropriate H1, H2, H3 etc. headings have not been used. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels.
  • Correct and appropriate headings will be used when rewriting content during the website redesign process.
• There currently isn’t a visible focus, which helps users know which element has keyboard focus and where they are on a page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 focus visible.
  • The website redevelopment will ensure that there are visible borders around an element, to highlight it being in focus.
• Not all visual text, including text-based controls can be scaled so that they can be read directly by users with visual impairments without using assistive technology. This causes issues with accessing the hamburger menu. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).
  • The website redevelopment will ensure that the hamburger menu is accessible when the screen is resized up to 200 percent.
• Not all text has the correct colour contrast, which makes it difficult for someone with visual impairments to see the content properly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 (contrast minimum).
  • The website redevelopment will ensure that there is enough contrast between text and background colours.
• Not all of the site’s links are accessible. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (in context) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
  • The website redesign will ensure that all link names will be made accessible by a screen reader, and be descriptive enough to tell a user where that link will take them.

Disproportionate burden

We’ve assessed the cost of auditing and fixing many of the outstanding issues described above. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We have allocated the costs of resolving these issues to the redevelopment of the Trust website which will resolve the issues once it is completed. It is expected that this new website will be live in the third quarter of 2022.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured or rendered correctly so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value) and 1.4.5 (images of text).

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 2022, 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 previous years annual reports and board papers.

Videos

We plan to add captions to all video content on our website, hosted on our YouTube channel.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

We have recently completed an assessment of the site.

The new site was commissioned back in November 2019 and was due to be completed in 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this was halted. The redevelopment is likely to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.

We are currently in the process of redesigning the Trust website with our web developers. This is being rebuilt from the ground up to ensure full accessibility for all patients and visitors who access this site.

We will also be reviewing our use of PDFs and looking into other methods of sharing information, to ensure our site is as accessible as possible.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 29 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 28th February 2022.

A full audit is underway and is being carried out by a trusted agency as part of the website redesign process.

We will test:

• Our main website platform
• A selection of content pages, service and resources from across the site

We will publish our full audit here once it has been completed.