Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust website (https://bwc.nhs.uk).

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.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

BWC NHS FT 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 (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

WCAG A 1.1.1 - Non-text Content
(Level A): All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed below.

  • Combine adjacent links with the same destination 
  • Specify alternative text for images inside links 
  • Specify alternative text for all images 

WCAG A 1.2.2 - Captions (Pre-recorded)
(Level A): Captions are provided for all pre-recorded audio content in synchronized media, except when the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labelled as such.

  • Ensure captions are provided for all pre-recorded audio and video 

WCAG A 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
(Level A): Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text.

  • Ensure form controls have labels 
  • Mark navigation as lists 
  • Tag all PDFs 
  • Specify headings for every PDF 
  • Ensure every page contains a top-level heading 
  • Add headers to tables 
  • Ensure headings include text 
  • Add a scope to table headings 
  • Ensure PDF headings follow a logical order 
  • Add a legend for all field sets 
  • Ensure the first heading in a PDF is a H1 
  • Ensure labels in the document fragment point to valid IDs 
  • Wrap items with the same name inside a field set 

WCAG AA 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose
(Level AA): The purpose of each input field collecting information about the user can be programmatically determined

  • Identify the purpose of fields programmatically

WCAG A 1.4.1 Use of Colour
(Level A): Colour is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

  • Ensure links are distinguished by more than just colour 

WCAG AA 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
(Level AA): The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1

  • Ensure text has sufficient contrast (AA) 

WCAG AA 1.4.4 Resize text
(Level AA): Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality.

  • Ensure pinch-to-zoom is enabled 

WCAG AA 1.4.10 Reflow
(Level AA): Content can be presented without loss of information or functionality, and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions for vertical scrolling content at a width equivalent to 320 CSS pixels and horizontal scrolling content at a height equivalent to 256 CSS pixels. Except for parts of the content which require two-dimensional layout for usage or meaning.

  • Ensure pages don't scroll in two dimensions on small screens 
  • Ensure pages don't require zooming and 2D scrolling on small screens 

WCAG AA 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast
(Level AA): The visual presentation have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against adjacent colour(s).

  • Ensure form controls contrast sufficiently with their surroundings 

WCAG A 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks
(Level A): A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages.

  • Allow users to quickly skip to content 
  • Avoid linking to anchors that do not exist 
  • Specify a title for all frames 

WCAG A 2.4.2 Page Titled
(Level A): Web pages have titles that describe topic or purpose.

  • Ensure PDFs have a title 
  • Ensure all pages have a title 
  • Improve weak PDF titles 

WCAG A 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)
(Level A): The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context, except where the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general.

  • Ensure links explain their purpose 
  • Avoid using the same link text for different destinations 

WCAG AA 2.4.5 Multiple Ways
(Level AA): More than one way is available to locate a Web page within a set of Web pages except where the Web Page is the result of, or a step in, a process.

  • Ensure long PDFs use bookmarks to aid navigation 

WCAG AA 2.4.7 Focus Visible
(Level AA): Any keyboard operable user interface has a mode of operation where the keyboard focus indicator is visible.

  • Ensure controls change appearance when they are selected

WCAG A 3.1.1 Language of Page
(Level A): The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined.

  • Specify the language of every page 
  • Ensure PDFs specify a default language 

WCAG A 4.1.1 Parsing
(Level A): In content implemented using markup languages, elements have complete start and end tags, elements are nested according to their specifications, elements do not contain duplicate attributes, and any IDs are unique, except where the specifications allow these features.

  • Fix duplicate IDs 

WCAG A 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
(Level A): For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to these items is available to user agents, including assistive technologies.

  • Ensure links can be used by screen readers 

Non-Accessible Content/Non-Compliance with the Accessibility Regulations

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

  • non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

PDFs

Many of our PDFs are not fully accessible to screen reader software. If you're having problems using these PDFs, contact bwc.communications@nhs.net for support.

  • WCAG 2.4.2 Page titled
  • WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page
  • WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships: Tables
  • WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content

Other parts of the website that are not fully accessible

These include:

  • some of our controls do not change appearance when they are selected, making it difficult to navigate when using keyboard navigation
  • some of our pages navigate in two dimensions when on smaller screens
  • some links and images that are not self-explanatory to screen reader users
  • some text and links do not have sufficient contrast
  • some online forms that are not easy for screen readers to navigate
  • links to websites or software that we do not own or manage and so cannot guarantee their accessibility.
  • The magnifying glass is not accessible using the keyboard
  • Once the accessibility button has been expanded, the keyboard cannot be used to filter the sitemap and contrast options
  • At 400% zoom, the keyboard focus becomes lost within the hamburger menu. The keyboard tabs through the menu however this is not visible to users
  • At 400% zoom, once opened, the menu does not reflow to fit the webpage
  • The keyboard focus is not visible for one keyboard tab after tabbing from the language button along the top of the webpage

We are actively working to address these issues after research and consultation with our  Disability and Wellbeing Network (DAWN) staff network (who represent colleagues with disability and other needs) as part of an ongoing programme to improve the accessibility of this website.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs do not meet accessibility standards. 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 have plans to remove or replace some of the PDFs with more accessible content alternatives. Wherever possible, we avoid PDFs. Instead, we create content as structured web pages in HTML

Videos

Some of our older videos do not meet accessibility standards because they do not have captions. The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix videos published before 23 September 2020. We are actively working to add captions to the most popular older videos.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

It was agreed the Trust would purchase Silktide, a tool that provides the ability to review all of the Trust's platforms and identify areas for improvement around accessibility. This platform has now been purchased and a work programme to conduct the accessibility audit and begin improvements is scheduled for Autumn 2022

At Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Foundation Trust, creating an accessible service is a team effort. We want our teams to make accessible services by:

  • considering accessibility at the start of their project, and throughout
  • making accessibility the whole team's responsibility
  • researching with disabled users
  • using a library of accessible components and patterns
  • carrying out regular accessibility audits and testing

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

  • updating the 10 most-watched videos on the website to AA standard
  • all videos are to be made AA standard when they are reviewed
  • working with our web develops to fix technical issues such as two-dimensional scrolling
  • a principle to move away from new content being produced in PDF
  • plans to remove or replace older PDFs with more accessible content
  • reviewing all links to make sure they have sufficient contrast and are underlined
  • auditing all our images to check they have suitable alternative text

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 05/01/24. It was last reviewed on 24/01/24.

This website was tested on January 2024 by Silktide, who performed an audit on 1,800 pages and 1,383 documents against all level A and AA success criteria of WCAG 2.1.

This website's accessibility will be reviewed regularly. The next review will take place in July 2024. We will update this accessibility statement with any relevant changes.

Feedback and contact information

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. Contact us if you have an accessibility query including:

  • issues with accessing information or using this website
  • an accessibility problem not listed in this statement
  • any positive feedback about this website's accessibility

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).