This website is run by North Cumbria Integrated Care 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.

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

How accessible this website is

Skiplinks are used to allow users to skip repeated headers.

We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible:

  • carousels on the homepage and internal pages aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software or keyboard navigation
  • automated searches on the website change content without making the user aware
  • most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams don’t have captions
  • some tables do not have row headers

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

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

  • communications.helpdesk@ncic.nhs.uk
  • 01228 608390

We’ll review your request and get back to you in 2 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: communications.helpdesk@ncic.nhs.uk

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

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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:

  • Carousels on the homepage and internal pages as they programmatically:
    • autoplay without the option to pause – this fails WCAG 2.1A 2.2.1 (Enough Time)
    • loop, therefore causing screen reader software and keyboard navigation to loop through 2-3 times – this fails WCAG 2.1A 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence)
  • Automated Service and Consultant searches that automatically change content on input without making the user aware, failing WCAG 2.1A 3.2.2 (On Input)
  • Images of text on the homepage which fail WCAG 2.1A 1.4.5 (Images of Text)
  • Various elements throughout the site where browser default focus outlines are difficult to interpret against design of said element or elements behind, failing WCAG 2.1AA 2.4.7 (Focus Visible)
  • The Care Quality Commission widget in the footer of every page, failing the minimum contrast requirements of WCAG 2.1AA 1.4.3 (Contrast [minimum]).

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

The Care Quality Commission widget embedded in the footer of every page, provided externally by the Care Quality Commission, has an element that does not a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1, therefore failing WCAG 2.1AA 1.4.3 (Contrast [minimum]).
This is a widget which has been created by the CQC and this issue has been reported to them to fix.

The homepage includes images of text, though text alternatives are provided. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1A 1.4.5 success criterion (Images of Text).

Carousels across the website are programmed to automatically loop through their contents.

By autoplaying without an option for users to manually pause, this fails WCAG 2.1A 2.2.1 (Enough Time).

By looping through their contents, the carousel lacks meaningful, programmatic sequence to screen readers and keyboard users. This causes them to loop through the carousel content 2-3 times, more than semantically intended once, therefore failing WCAG 2.1A 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence).

Browser default focus outlines are difficult to distinguish on various elements throughout the site, most notably form fields on the ‘services’, ‘consultants’ and ‘careers’ pages, due to the styling of the element itself or elements around it. As such, this fails WCAG 2.1AA 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).

On the ‘services’ and ‘consultants’ pages of the website, there are searches which automatically searches upon user input, reloading the page content beneath. As such, the user does not have to click the ‘Submit search’ present at the bottom of the form. The user is unaware of, and unable to prevent such automated behaviour, as they are not alerted prior. This fails WCAG 2.1A 3.3.2 (On Input).

Disproportionate burden

Navigation and accessing information

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option). This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.4 (orientation).

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.

Our membership form is built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in 6 months time (April 2016).

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

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 September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations don’t 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 don’t plan to fix patient information factsheet that provides the same content as a webpage for the service.

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

Live video

Live video streams don’t have captions. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).

We don’t plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 26th September 2019. The test was carried out by Frank Design Ltd.

This website was tested:

We tested the main website homepage, pages with prominent features that we expect users to regularly access, and standard examples of internal pages which much of the site will comprise of.

We tested:

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap is available by contacting communication.helpdes@cumbria.nhs.uk and lists how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

This statement was prepared on 1st October 2019. It was last updated on 1st October 2019.