1.0 Accessibility statement for www.leicestershospitals.nhs.uk
This website is run byUniversity Hospitals of Leicester (UHL). We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. We are committed to providing a website with information that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology, disability and capability. We are continuously working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines:
- We have taken advice from GOV.UK and also used Deque Axe and Silk Tide to help us make this site more accessible
- Zoom in up to 300% without the text falling off the edges of the screen
- Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- Skip to content function
- Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
- Use our ReachDeck tool offered in the right left corner to adjust accessibility and contrast levels and to read out content
In places we have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand(though, on some pages, text may have been written by people who are not experts in writing for the web including clinical terms and complex jargon.)
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
1.1 How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Some videos embedded into pages may not have subtitles or transcripts
- Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- Older PDF documents may have tables not entirely accessible
- Cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- Live video streams do not have captions
- Some of our longer or complicated online forms may be difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and captchas (where present), where enabled may not have alternate text
- Some images and links may not have descriptive alternative text
1.2 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:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter by emailing equality@uhl-tr.nhs.uk.
1.3 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 our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team at communications@uhl-tr.nhs.uk by email, stating the any problems you are experiencing.
1.4 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).
2.0 Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Please contact us via this form
2.1 Technical information about this website’s accessibility
University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL), UHL Communications,UHL EDI and the UHL Web teamis committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
2.1.1 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.
3.0 Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
3.1 Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Images, PDFs and other documents
- Some images do not have a text alternative; we plan to add text alternatives for all images by June 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards. This fails WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text
- We plan to remove older PDFs that are not compliant (pre-2018 PDFs and documents from www.leicestershospitals.nhs.uk) by June 2024. This fails WCAG 2.1 guideline 2.4
- There are some pages that may have tables, we have tried to include captions and make them accessible as much as possible, we aim to either remove or fix these tables that are not compliant by June 2024. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships: Tables.
Embedded video
- Embedded videos do not yet all have text alternatives, audio descriptions or captions as required to be accessible to all users. This fails WCAG 2.1 guideline 1.2 (time-based media). We plan to add the required alternatives for time-based media by June 2024.
Forms
- Where an input error is automatically detected in an online form, the error may not be described to the user in text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification).
- If an input error is automatically detected suggestions for correction may not be presented to the user in text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.3 (error suggestion). We plan to introduce a new forms solution by April 2024.
- We plan to add indications and suggestions in text for all form errors by introducing a new forms solution by April 2024.
3.2 Disproportionate burden
We’ve assessed the time and financial cost of fixing the issues our legacy or older PDF documents (for example, Trust Board Agendas, Minutes and some other items) spanning a number of years. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make regular assessments of this and will either remove the documents or improve its accessibility, where we can in conjunction with our other teams.
3.3 Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs, documents and other downloadable files
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. Due to the large amount of these PDFs and produced by numerous services it would take a large amount of resource and time to reproduce, but the text should be accessible on the majority of these. For older documents please kindly see 3.2 Disproportionate Burden above.
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.
- Downloadable documents are not adaptable by the user to suit their needs.
- Controlled documents and other corporate documents are published in a format which was designed to meet governance requirements for official or internal use, often when printed. The formatting of these documents may make them difficult to use for users of assistive technology such as screen reader software, and for people using their keyboard to navigate the website.
- Some documents are designed for print, rather than publication on the web, but have been published on our websites (yourHealth) as helpful content. Other documents have been provided in a particular format for a specific audience, where web accessibility is not a requirement due to the intended use of the file
- Where documents have been designed specifically for print, the colours used do not always meet colour contrast requirements for web accessibility.
- The formatting of these documents may make them difficult to use for users of assistive technology such as screen reader software, and for people using their keyboard to navigate the website.
Where downloadable documents are made available in these formats and are not compliant, it is usually out of necessity, for the reasons stated. We will review further PDF documents before publication and will publish content in accessible formats where possible.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Embedded and older video content
While we aim to make all of our content compliant where possible, we may not add captions to all pre-recorded video published before 01 September 2020, as this is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Maps
Online maps - those embedded from digital mapping services such as Google Maps, and maps made available in formats such as PDF - are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. However, we will always attempt to provide as much related information as possible in text, e.g. postcodes and directions.
4.0 What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Our accessibility roadmap below shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website:
- To phase out the existing website software and introduce new software with accessibility checks built in by April 2024.
- To redesign the website with the new software and place accessibility at its forefront by April 2024.
- To introduce more rigid guidelines on the production of Patient Information and PDFs online to meet accessibility
- To phase out our online document management system and introduce a easily navigable site to view documented information.
Assistive software called ReachDeck
We have integrated the ReachDeck toolbar, this is a web accessibility tool which provides access to features to help support and allow you to personalise how you access our content. The ReachDeck toolbar icon appears on most parts of our website. Just click on the icon and the toolbar appears. Read more about ReachDeck toolbar (opens in new window) >
5.0 Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 8th June 2023. It was last reviewed on 8th June 2023.
This website was last tested on 8th June 2023. The test was carried out by University Hospitals of Leicester IM&T Web team.
We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test:
- Home page
- About Us page
- Contact Us page
- Compliments page
- PILS form page
- Work For Us page
- Trust Board Meeting papers
In conjunction with GOV.UK Digital, EDI and Web Teams and Deque AXE DevTools software integration.
The pages to test were decided through a assistive report with GOV.UK Digital and their information.
