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Website accessibility statement

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Accessibility statement for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

This accessibility statement applies to www.uhmb.nhs.uk

This website is run by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT). We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that 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’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:

  • some documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some images do not use text alternatives
  • some hyperlinks are not contextual
  • keyboard navigation is not always possible when using some elements 
  • there are some areas where it is not possible to resize text up to 200% without loss of content or functionality
  • not all headings are correctly marked up and some text is incorrectly marked up
  • some parts of the website have poor colour contrast
  • there are some areas which feature moving, blinking or scrolling information and there is not a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it

Feedback and contact information

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

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

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, email the Corporate Communications team.

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

Our sites have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us using the information on our ‘Get in touch’ webpage.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

UHMBT 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

PDFs and other documents

Many PDFs are not able to comply with the requirements of the web accessibility standard, so wherever possible we try not to upload new PDFs. However, we do have a number of documents in formats including PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint which include:

  • Downloads of Board papers, reports, publications and policies
  • Our annual reports which must, by law, be laid before parliament in a printed version, and then appear unaltered
  • Notices which must include a signature in order to be valid
  • Downloads intended for print purposes, such as posters, newsletters, and forms to be sent back to the Trust via post or other means.
  • Statutory or complex information which cannot be converted to webpages

The structure of these documents is not always available to assistive technology, which makes the content difficult to understand and navigate for users of screen readers (Info and relationships 1.3.1). The language is missing in some of the documents (Language of Page 3.1.1) and some page titles are missing (2.4.2 Page Titled). We know that in the documents, particularly the Board Papers, there are tables which are not correctly marked up and are not picked up properly by assistive technology (1.3.1 Tables) and some images are missing alternative text (1.1.1 Non Text Content).

We are currently working on a plan to make current and relevant documents accessible by autumn 2025. Documents we publish going forward, outside of those identified in our disproportionate burden assessment, will be created as HTML webpages or will meet accessibility standards if they are to be used. Alternatively, we will put the document on the HTML website with a note to say the document is not accessible. Read more about our disproportionate burden assessment below.

We aim to reformat documents to new accessible formats upon request within 10 working days. Please email the Corporate Communications team for support with this.

Images

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). The UHMBT Communications team are working to add text alternatives for all images by the end of February 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

There are some images of text used on the website which are not essential to the information being conveyed. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of Text). The UHMBT Communications team are working through the pages that include images of text and ensuring that text alternatives are also available. We aim to have this work completed by the end of February 2024.

Links and text

Some link text is not contextual and doesn't make sense when read on its own (for example 'click here'). This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (in context). The UHMBT Communications team are working through the links which don't make sense on their own, and we aim to have fixed these by the end of February 2024.

In some areas that include text or images of text, the name of the area does not contain the text that is presented visually. For example, on the site-wide search feature, the search button does not have text to indicate what the feature is for. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.3 (Label in Name). The UHMBT Communications team are working with our external website developers and aim to have this fixed by the end of October 2025.

Keyboard navigation

Some of the content functionality on our website is not fully operable using a keyboard. This includes:

  • The main navigation dropdowns currently open on focus without being dismissible. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.13 (Content on Hover or Focus) and success criterion 3.2.1 (On Focus)
  • The mobile toolbar items should loop when opened and not remain open as you move through the items. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow)
  • There is currently not an option to bypass blocks of content which are repeated on a number of pages when using keyboard navigation. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks)
  • When using keyboard navigation to move through moving components (for example the homepage banner and homepage news section), the objects do not receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus Order).
  • There are various elements where the keyboard focus indicator is not visible. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible)

The UHMBT Communications team are working with our external website developers and aim to have these issues fixed by the end of October 2025.

Zoom

There are some parts of the website where it is not possible to resize text up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize text).

The UHMBT Communications team are working with our external website developers and aim to have this fixed by the end of October 2025.

Headings and labels

Not all headings are correctly marked up and some text is incorrectly marked as a heading. This makes it hard for users to find information or understand relationships between different parts of the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels) and 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships). The UHMBT Communications team are working to update all page headings by the end of February 2024.

Some of the features on the website are not labelled correctly which causes them to be ignored by screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (Labels or Instructions). There are also various forms, links, events and buttons which do not have complete start/end tags, values or languages. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing), or success criterion 4.1.3 (Status Messages).

The UHMBT Communications team are working with our external website developers and aim to have these issues fixed by the end of October 2025.

Colour contrast

The visual presentation of some features do not have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against adjacent colours. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast).

Some hyperlinks do not include an underline and are only identifiable by their colour. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).

The UHMBT Communications team are working with our external website developers and aim to have these issues fixed by the end of October 2025.

Moving components

There are some parts of the website which feature moving, blinking or scrolling information and there is not a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it. For example, on the Our Services page when a letter is selected, it submits the search which is unexpected. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide) and success criterion 3.2.2 (On Input).

The UHMBT Communications team are working with our external website developers and aim to have these issues fixed by the end of October 2025.

Disproportionate Burden

The accessibility regulations say that we do not need to make changes to our website if doing so would impose a disproportionate burden on us.

Documents published after 23 September 2018

We always do our best to ensure that the documents essential to care are accessible to everyone. However, we have assessed that ensuring every document published on our website meets the accessibility legislation would be a disproportionate burden.

Where documents are no longer in active use, or no longer being updated, there is a high cost in terms of employee hours to convert. These documents are part of the public record, but no longer represent the current position and interest is very limited.

We will always respond to requests for our publications in different formats on a case-by case basis, so accessible versions are available on demand, with a short lead-time. We consider that the costs of converting older documents where there is little evidence of demand would be a poor use of limited employee time and would represent a disproportionate burden on the organisation in terms of cost.

Read our full disproportionate burden assessment.

Please email the Corporate Communications team if you need a document in an alternative format.

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

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Pre-recorded video

We do not plan to add captions to pre-recorded time-based videos published before 23rd September 2020 as this is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

PDFs and other documents

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Work is continuing to remove documents which are not accessible and are not needed as a priority. Where information is still required, outside of those identified in our disproportionate burden assessment, we plan to republish it in HTML format wherever possible.

Our external website developers, Frank Design Ltd, have recently completed a full site audit, which we have used to inform this accessibility statement and our accessibility roadmap.

We are in the early stages of a large Trust-wide accessibility project which aims to educate all colleagues on the importance of creating accessible information and documents. This will involve an internal campaign, policy change, and the creation of document templates and guidance to make it easier for colleagues to create accessible content. We will also be completing the outstanding accessibility issues identified in this statement.

The timeline for this work takes into account the high costs associated with making all of the changes and helps to spread the cost over two financial periods. We have also taken into consideration the existing workloads of our colleagues in ensuring that we can deliver this important work.

Read our accessibility roadmap for more information.

If you have any feedback, please email the Corporate Communications team at communications.team@mbht.nhs.uk.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 11 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 18 September 2023.

This website was last tested in August 2023. The test was carried out by Frank Design Ltd.

In regards to testing, Frank has a 96 point checklist which is used to review the website against all WCAG 2.1 A and AA accessibility standards.

This includes:

  • Keyboard navigation
  • Screen reader using JAWS
  • Screen reader using NVDA
  • Validation for HTML (this ensures that the code has been validated against the HTML specification and there are no errors so that assistive technologies can correctly handle the code) This is also done for Wave and Google Lighthouse.

Legal Disclaimer

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust is not responsible for the translations provided by Google Translate. Please be aware that the English version of our website is the official text. The translated copies of our site are not legally binding, and any differences created in translation have no legal effect. If there are any concerns regarding the accuracy of the information presented within the translated versions of our site, please refer back to the official English-language website.