Accessibility statement

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

This accessibility statement applies to content published on the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust website.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this service. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • understand the information we provide.

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

How accessible is this website

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We aim to meet international accessibility guidelines, however this may not always be possible, or we may have missed a problem.

Below is some of the content that is not yet fully accessible:

  • some of our content with images does not have alternative text to provide more context on the intent and purpose of the images
  • most PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.

If you have difficulty using our website

Please get in touch if you require any of the Trust’s leaflets or published documents in alternative formats, such as large print or alternative languages, or if you cannot use the website:

You’ll need to provide:

  • The web address (URL) of the content
  • Your name and email address
  • The format you require, for example audio CD, Braille or accessible PDF.

Contact information:

Equality and Human Rights Department on esh-tr.AccessibleInformation@nhs.net

Or write to:

Equality and Human Rights Department, Management Corridor
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Kings Drive
Eastbourne
BN21 2UD

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you are not happy with our response, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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’).

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is committed to making our 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

  • Accessibility issue:
    • 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 (non-text content). We are working to fix existing inaccessible content. All new content we publish meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

Accessibility of PDF documents

Under the The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (“the Regulation”), we are not required to provide PDF documents created prior to 23rd September 2018 in an accessible format unless the PDF document is essential to service delivery (“Pre-2018 ESD Documents”). However, the Regulation permits derogation from the requirement to provide accessible Pre-2018 ESD Documents if this would result in a disproportionate burden on the provider.

PDF patient information

We are working towards making our patient information more accessible. This is part of a larger piece of work to renew and update patient information more generally. This project includes how we govern the information we provide patients, the structure of this information, the content of the information and ensuring that it is accessible for those who need it.

We’ve assessed the resources constraint of fixing the PDF document and 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

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to delivering our work. We plan to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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

 

How we tested

Testing has been conducted by the website hosting and maintenance team at dxw.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

The guidelines have three levels of accessibility (A, AA and AAA). We’ve chosen Level AA as the target for the our website.

While we are only partially compliant with the Level AA, we are working towards being fully compliant.

We monitor the website regularly to maintain this, but if you do find any problems, please get in touch at: esh-tr.AccessibleInformation@nhs.net

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 21 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 23 September 2020.

This website was last tested on 21 September 2020. The test was carried out by The Dextrous Web Ltd (trading as dxw).

dxw carried out automated and manual testing using assistive technology, different web browsers and mobile devices using a sample of pages that represented the most commonly occurring page types.