Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to lnwh.nhs.uk only.

This website is run by London North West University Healthcare NHS 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 contrast levels
• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made our information as simple as possible to understand.

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

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text without additional software
• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
• you cannot skip to the main content using a keyboard
• some elements on our website are not fully navigable by keyboard
• in high contrast mode, some links are do not have enough contrast with the background.

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

• email lnwh-tr.pals@nhs.net
• call 020 8967 5653
• or visit us in person: our PALS office is near the main entrance at Ealing Hospital.

Please include in your request:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your name and email address
• the format you need, for example audio CD, braille, BSL or large print.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 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, please email our digital communications team on:

• Email lnwh-tr.communications@nhs.net
• Call 020 8869 3552

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).

Visiting us in person

If you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. Please email our patient advice team.

London North West University Healthcare is committed to making its websites 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-compliance and the exemptions listed below.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

These issues will be fixed by February 2024:

• Some buttons are not larger than 44×44 pixels (WCAG 2.5.5).
• In soft contrast, our logo doesn't have enough contrast with the background (WCAG 1.4.3).
• At all zoom levels, the main menu can't be easily closed with keyboard only (WCAG 1.4.13).
• At high zoom levels, sometimes breadcrumbs force the page to scroll in two dimensions (WCAG 1.4.10).

These issues will be fixed when we find them, either through accessibility audits or regular content review:

• Some pages and documents have a reading age higher than 16 (WCAG 3.1.5). We regularly review our written information to ensure everyone can understand it, but sometimes we have to publish information of a legal or clinical nature. Where possible, we link to additional information that is easier to read.
• Some of our PDFs do not have accessible titles: we know PDFs and closed file formats are difficult to use for people with accessibility needs, so wherever possible we use open standards (such as CSV) and HTML pages instead. Where we find documents that are not accessible, we will either fix them, convert them to HTML pages, or remove them.
• Some of our embedded videos may not have names that are readable by screen readers (WCAG 4.1.2).

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 board papers published before September 2018.

We know PDFs and closed file formats are difficult to use for people with accessibility needs, so wherever possible we use HTML pages instead.

If you need any information in an accessible format, please contact us.

Auto-generated captions

Some of the videos we publish include auto-generated captions. Auto-generated captions comply with accessibility regulation, but if you see anything wrong in any of our video captions, please contact us.

We now have regularly scheduled accessibility audits with a third-party company. Our last accessibility audit was in September 2023.

Between audits we will find and fix accessibility issues by reviewing a cross-section of 15 most and least popular pages.

We're keen to work with user groups to ensure everyone can use our websites. If you want to get involved or if you have any feedback about our websites, please contact us.

This statement was prepared on 21 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 2 November 2023.

This website was evaluated on 22 May 2023 by the Government Digital Service. The sample of pages they tested can be found on their website.

We re-tested our website, using the same methods, on 1 August 2023 to verify the issues raised by GDS have been fixed.

On 2 August 2023 we audited a further selection pages: read lnwh.nhs.uk accessibility audit report, August 2023 [pdf] 151KB for findings.

During our tests, we checked 15 pages to see if they:

• are navigable by keyboard only
• work in high contrast mode
• work when zoomed in, up to 400%
• can be read aloud by NVDA, a free screen reader
• are understandable to someone with seven to nine years of education using WebFX, a free reading age checker
• We also checked each page with axe DevTools.