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 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 within 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 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum): Elements must have sufficient colour contrast.
• 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 1.4.13 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 2.4.1 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 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: Buttons must have discernible text.
• 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.

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 have replaced PDFs and Word documents with accessible HTML pages where possible – for example, with our patient information leaflets. We are working to fix the remaining documents that do not meet accessibility guidelines. The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018. 

What we are doing to improve accessibility

Although we have made significant improvements to our website since the Government Digital Service Team’s test in December 2024, we are continuing to work with our web designer EvoMark Ltd to fix the remaining issues listed above.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was updated on 10 June 2026.

A selection of pages were tested on 10 June 2026 using PageSpeed Insights. Additional items were manually checked.

Pages tested included:
Dorset County Hospital | NHS Foundation Trust
Contact Us | Dorset County Hospital
About Us | Dorset County Hospital
Latest News | Dorset County Hospital
Special Care Baby Unit | Dorset County Hospital

The website was tested by the Government Digital Service Team on 2 December 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. You can read the accessibility report on the GOV.uk website. We have since made significant improvements to the website. Improvements include:

• ALT text is included on all images (WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content)
• Text can be resized up to 200% without the loss of content or function (WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text)
• Text can be changed using the keyboard (WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard)
• It is possible to stop and pause the rotating article slider at the top of the homepage (WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide)
• The keyboard focus is always visible at 200% zoom and more (WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible)