Accessibility

Accessibility statement for Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust website

This accessibility statement applies to this website and all the pages contained on it.

This website is run by Dorset County Hospital 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 using browser or device settings
• zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).

We have 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:

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• some of our pages are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and other assistive technologies.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact our web team at communications@dchft.nhs.uk

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:

• email communications@dchft.nhs.uk
• call 01305 253394

We will consider your request and get back to you in 72 hours.

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Dorset County Hospital 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.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations:

• WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content: People with sight loss may not see an image clearly on a page. You need to use a text alternative to share the information. The alternative text must describe the information or function represented by the image.
• WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships: Information in tables must be shown in a way that maintains the relationships between the data even when a user cannot see the table.
• WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum): Elements must have sufficient colour contrast.
• WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text: Text cannot be resized up to 200% without the loss of content or function.
• WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text: Images of text should not be used unless text cannot be formatted to the same effect, for example logos or branding.
• WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow: At 400% zoom, links within the footer do not reflow to fit the webpage correctly as the user has to scroll horizontally. At 400% zoom, once expanded, links within the hamburger menu do not reflow correctly as they are no longer fully visible for users.
• WCAG 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus: When hovering over the navigation bar dropdown menus, there is no mechanism to dismiss the additional content triggered without moving pointer hover or keyboard focus.
• WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard: Some of the menu was not accessible using the keyboard at 200% zoom. The text size cannot be changed using the keyboard.
• WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide: It is not possible to stop, pause or hide the rotating article slider at the top of the webpage.
• WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: Frames must have an accessible name.
• WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order: The focus order is arranged in a way that the cookie banner receives keyboard focus last. Keyboard navigation should reflect a navigation sequence that is consistent with the meaning of content. This also creates a WCAG 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (minimum) issue as focus disappears behind the banner.
• WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: Links must have discernible text.
• WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible: The keyboard focus is not always visible at 200% zoom and more.
• WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: Buttons must have discernible text.

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. These do not meet some accessibility guidelines. For example:

• Documents have elements that do not have sufficient colour contrast. (WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast minimum)
• Documents have elements that are missing alternative text (WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content)
• Documents have missing page titles within the settings of the PDF document (WCAG 2.4.2 page titled)

We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Other aspects of the site which require attention include the service/location search, general webpage content (for issues with things like headings, links and images), maps and interactive content such as accordions.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are currently working with our web designer EvoMark Ltd to fix the issues mentioned above. We are also making significant improvements to the overall site. We are planning to resolve these issues by April 2025.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 10 December 2024. It was reviewed on 26 February 2025.

This website was last tested on 2 December 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by the Government Digital Service team. You can read the accessibility report on the GOV.uk website.

A selection of pages were tested by EvoMark Ltd, the company that designed and developed this website. A further audit of the website will be carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard by EvoMark Ltd in April 2025.