Accessibility - Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

Accessibility statement for www.mtw.nhs.uk

This accessibility statement applies to www.mtw.nhsuk

This website is run by the Communications Team for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means:

content is structured logically and can be navigated and read by a screen reader
we do not use colour as the only way to explain or distinguish something
web pages use text colours that show up clearly against the background colour
web pages use descriptive links so users know where a link will take them, or what downloadable linked content is
we explain all abbreviations and acronyms, unless they are well known and in common use – for example UK, EU, VAT

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

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

you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
live video streams do not have captions
our pages do not include a ‘skip to’ content link
transcripts for every video and audio file are not immediately available

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 mtw-tr.communications@nhs.net
call 01622 228658

We’ll aim to respond to your request in five 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, contact the Communications Team on 01622 228658.

Find out how else to get in touch with 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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS 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, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2021. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
Our pages do not currently have skip links. This is because we do not have the ability to do so as part of our content management system. This is currently being reviewed.
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not 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. We are working to change these or replace them with accessible HTML pages. The accessibility regulations do not require us to amend PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

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).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

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.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations:

PDFs and other documents

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. We are working to change 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 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

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

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 23 September 2020. This website was last tested on 14 September 2020. The test was carried out by The Communications Team.

We tested a sample batch of pages which include the below:

Patients and Visitors: https://www.mtw.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/

Sexual Health Services: https://www.mtw.nhs.uk/service/sexual-health-services/

In An Emergency: https://www.mtw.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/in-an-emergency-ae/

Latest Information On the Coronavirus: https://www.mtw.nhs.uk/2020/08/latest-information-on-the-coronavirus/

Research and Development: https://www.mtw.nhs.uk/research/