Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to all pages available on the domain torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk.

This website is run by Torbay and South Devon 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
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) and also the ReachDeck tool on this website that can read aloud all pages and documents, translates text and offers simple reading modes and font selection and magnification.

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

Adapting your experience to your needs

We have made the site as usable as we can, but you might have a better experience if you change the settings on your computer to suit your individual needs.

For example, you might change the site’s colours, increase the text size, or have the site spoken aloud.

For help customising your experience using accessibility features already on your computer, or by installing extra assistive technologies, visit these websites:

AbilityNet’s My Computer, My way – help making your device or computer easier to use
The Web Accessibility Initiative’s Better Web Browsing: Tips for Customising your Computer
Scope’s guide on Apps that make life more accessible

Need help reading our website? Our website uses the digital inclusion software, ReachDeck, making our content more accessible with reading and translation support.

Click on the ReachDeck link that appears bottom left of every page to launch the support toolbar. Then simply click on any text to hear it read out loud.

ReachDeck offers a host of reading and translation support, helping you to access and understand our website better.

text-to-speech: click on or select any text to hear it read aloud
translation: written and spoken translations in multiple languages
text magnification: enlarges text and reads it out loud
mp3 generation: converts selected text into an MP3 audio file
screen mask: blocks distractions on screen with a tinted mask
web page simplifier: removes clutter from the screen, displaying only the main text
settings: customise options to suit individual needs or preferences

All the features are accessed from an easy-to-use, floating toolbar – allowing you to drag and drop it anywhere on screen.

How accessible this website is

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

you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
our buttons do not all have accessible names
our buttons and links do not all have a visible focus
some of our images do not have a text alternative
some of our videos do not have accurate captions
most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
some of our forms are difficult to navigate using assistive technologies, like screen readers

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:

Contact our Communications Team on 01803 654286 or by using our contact form.

We will ensure that enquiries are dealt with quickly and appropriately.

Reporting accessibility problems with our 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, You can use the ‘Found a problem with this page? Tell us about it and help improve our site’ text and link listed at the bottom of most web pages on this website.

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

Torbay and South Devon 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, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Some of our buttons do not all have accessible names
Some of our images do not have a text alternative
Some PDF and Microsoft documents may not be tagged and are not all available as HTML pages.
Some video and audio content may not be subtitled with closed captioning or have transcripts.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images and buttons 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 non-decorate images and buttons. When new content is published, we ensure to meet accessibility standards.

Inaccessible PDFs and/or Microsoft documents that read out on screen readers, and poor colour contrast that makes text difficult to read – especially for visually impaired people. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

When we publish new PDF or Microsoft documents we’ll make sure they are tagged to meet accessibility standards. We will

Video and audio only content that do not have transcripts or captions – This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded).

Our site includes 3rd party content and functionality. Depending on our relationship with the 3rd party, we cannot always guarantee its accessibility.

Disproportionate burden

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with accessing information and it would be a disproportionate burden to change all PDF and Microsoft documents added to the site since September 2018 to HTML pages or tag them. This will not be a disproportionate burden forever with PDF and Microsoft documents replaced and old videos removed or subtitles and captions added.

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 from 1 April 2023 will meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to improve accessibility on this website by 30 December 2023.

All video content added will have captions.

Any new content types will be reviewed for accessibility before implementation.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was revised on 1 April 2023.

This website was last tested on 31 March 2023. The test was carried out by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust Web Services.

We reviewed the website in order to draw conclusions on best approach and the roadmap to full accessibility. This website’s accessibility will be reviewed on a regular basis.