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Gateshead Fertility Unit

Accessibility

Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the QE Gateshead website:

https://www.qegateshead.nhs.uk/

This website is run by Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our 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)

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

How accessible this website is

Overall our website is quite accessible and our customers should be able to use the site without too much difficulty. We are aware of some issues that may affect the accessibility of some parts of the website:  

  • heading elements are not always used correctly so it may be difficult to discern the structure of the page

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

  • older videos are missing audio description

  • the purpose of links is not always clear without the surrounding context

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:

ghnt.comms@nhs.net

0191 445 6120

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 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, contact us.

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

QE Gateshead 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 and exemptions’ listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Page design

Some links are only distinguished by a change in colour, which may be imperceptible to people with visual impairment or colour blindness. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).

We plan to provide an additional visual indication (e.g. an underline) to show that text is a link by [input date]. Any new links with follow this new convention.

Some images are missing alt text or do not have suitably descriptive alt text which means screen reader users may miss key information. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 (Text Alternative).

We plan to add descriptive text alternatives to all images that require it by May 2021. Any new images will be added with alt text by default.

Page structure

Heading elements are not always used correctly, which can make it difficult for some users to discern the structure of the webpage. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).

We plan to review and update all heading elements to ensure they are used correctly by May 2021. Any new pages will use heading elements correctly from creation.

When viewed at 400% zoom, some content is obscured, which means people with visual impairments may be unable to access some content. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).

We plan to fix these reflow issues by May 2021.

Navigation, links and buttons

The ‘skip to content’ is currently not visible when it receives focus. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks).

We plan to fix this issue by May 2021.

The purpose of links is not always clear from the text alone, which will affect screen reader users when they list links. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).

We plan to change all links so they are meaningful without the context of the surrounding text by May 2021. Any new links added will also have a clear purpose.

PDFs

Some of our PDFs do not comply with WCAG 2.1 to Level A and AA which may make them difficult for some of our users to access. For example:

  • Images do not have descriptive alt text so are inaccessible to screen reader users. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 (Text Alternative)

  • They currently do use the correct heading structure, which makes it difficult for screen reader users to navigate the document. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info & Relationships)

Where possible we plan to fix these PDF issues. For any new PDFs, we will ensure they are created in an accessible way. 

 

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 23rd  September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

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

Time-based media

Videos published on the site before 23rd September 2020 are exempt from the government accessibility regulations so do not have audio description or a text alternative.

Any new videos will be published to meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

 

This statement was prepared on [date when it was first published]. It was last reviewed on [date when it was last reviewed].

This website was last tested on 8th January 2020. This website was tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, and the test was carried out by Web Usability Partnership Ltd.

 

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.