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Accessibility

Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to all pages available on the domain www.ruh.nhs.uk This website is run by the Royal United Hospitals 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:

  • 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.

View the site your way

There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Feedback and contact information

Please contact us if you have any accessibility query including:

  • if you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
  • if you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
  • if you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made

When you contact us 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.

Alternative formats

If you need information in an alternative format, such as braille, large print, audio or easy read, please contact the Patient Support and Complaints team:

How accessible this website is

A project is currently under way to redesign the RUH web site, and all current accessibility issues will be addressed as part of that process. We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible.

  • text will currently only zoom to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software and are not tagged
  • some video streams do not have captions
  • colour and contrast levels can only be changed using specialist plug-ins (eg. the Chrome High Contrast plug-in)

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 the RUH Web Team on:

Complaints process

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 at the RUH to register your difficulty. This helps us improve our processes.

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).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

The Royal United Hospitals 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 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

This section covers issues that we need to fix and are working to do so.

Inaccessible PDFs and/or Word documents that read out on screen readers, and poor colour contrast that makes text difficult to read - especially for visually impaired people. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

The Trust is purchasing new PDF conversion software in January 2024. When we publish new PDF or Word documents we'll make sure they are tagged to meet accessibility standards.

Videos do not have transcripts or captions - This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded).

HTML pages
  • At 400% zoom and in mobile view, the webpage does not reflow correctly. The content to the right of the page is no longer visible – this fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow.
  • There are images of text on various pages, such as all images on the home page carousel and the 'Become a member' article image – WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text.
  • The home page carousel cannot be paused, stopped or hidden – this fails WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide.
  • The focus is not visible on the carousel's navigation buttons when using the keyboard – this fails WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible.
  • Not all of our content reaches our target reading age of 12 years old – this fails WCAG 3.1.5 Reading Level.

A project is underway to redesign the RUH website that will address these issues. Colour contrast issues will be addressed via the style sheet for the current website, and will be fixed in January 2024.

PDF and Word documents
  • Patient information leaflets that have not been updated to the current branding have insufficient colour contrast in headers – this fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum).
  • Document elements on patient information leaflets do not have alternative text such as header and footer images and barcodes – this fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content.
  • PDF and Word documents are not tagged and are not all available as HTML pages – this fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content.

The Trust is purchasing new PDF conversion software in January 2024. When we publish new or replacement PDF or Word documents, we'll make sure that they are tagged to meet accessibility standards. Patient leaflets that do not meet the current branding colour contrast standards are in the process of being replaced.

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. This may include:

  • links to non-RUH websites
  • content/functionality on our website
  • content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites

Disproportionate burden

A disproportionate burden assessment is in progress relating to the cost of converting historical PDF documents to an accessible format. The results will be published in January 2024.

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

PDFs and other documents
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 2018_07_02_Celebrations_at_the_RUH.pdf.

Any new or replacement PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

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

What we're doing to improve accessibility

A project is underway to redesign the RUH web site. Outstanding accessibility issues will be addressed as part of this project. We plan to improve accessibility on this website over the next two years. All PDF and Word documents will be tagged for accessibility and run through Adobe Accessibility tools.

Any new content types will be reviewed for accessibility before implementation.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15 August 2023. It was last reviewed on 8 January 2024.

This website was last tested in August 2023. The test was carried out by the RUH Web Team. We reviewed each PDF and Word document added to the site since September 2018 in order to draw conclusions on best approach and the roadmap to full accessibility.


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