Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for The Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust’s website:www.coch.nhs.uk  

This accessibility statement applies to www.coch.nhs.uk which is run by The Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. We would like as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

People using the Trust’s website 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).

We know that it is not possible to do the things on the list above because the technology our website uses is out of date. The website was built in 2011 using software (Umbraco 4) which is now unsupported.

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

How accessible this website is

We know that this website is not fully accessible. For example:

  • The text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window.
  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text.
  • Most PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • Live video streams do not have captions.
  • Our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.
  • You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader.
  • It is difficult to magnify the map on our ‘contact us’ page.

We are currently making improvements where we can to make the website more accessible but due to the age of the site and the software it uses, our ability to do this is limited. We are therefore planning to replace the current website with a new site that will fully meet all accessibility requirements.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

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

  • Email countess.countess.communications@nhs.net
  • Call 01244362102
  • Write to:
    Communications Team
    Moston Lodge
    Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust
    Countess of Chester Health Park
    Liverpool Road
    Chester
    CH2 1UB

We’ll consider your request and get back to you.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘find us’ page which you can view here, please call our Patient Experience Team for directions. You can call the team on 0800 195 1241 (select option 2) or 01244 366066. You can also email the Patient Experience Team on coch.patientexperience@nhs.net

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 contact the Countess of Chester’s Communications Team:

Email: countess.communications@nhs.net

Tel: 01244 362102

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, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We have fixed and portable hearing loops available. If you require a British Sign Language (BSL) language interpreter or foreign language interpreter please contact the area you are visiting prior to your appointment. The Trust will book interpreters on your behalf and there will be no charge.

Find out how to contact us on our contact us page here.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Countess of Chester 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.

The Trust is currently planning a new website which will be built on new software to enable all accessibility standards to be met.

Compliance status

The Trust’s website does not meet the requirements of the WCAG 2.1 AA standard and therefore it is not compliant. The website is within scope of the regulations. The website is not compliant with the current standards due to the age of the site and software used to construct it.

The non-compliances and exemptions are listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This website is not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

Some issues can be fixed such as adding alt text to images and assessing whether pdfs can be replaced with accessible pdfs or HTML pages however the software has limitations and so it may not be possible to rectify all these issues before a new website is launched.

Images will have alt text added by 31 December 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

PDFs will be assessed and upgraded to accessible pdfs where possible by 31 December 2020.

The non-compliances are listed below.

Disproportionate burden

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. The software is no longer supported and is unreliable and unable to support accessibility tools and software. To make the website accessible in time for the new standards is currently judged as a disproportionate burden. However work has begun to plan for a new website which will replace the existing site and be fully compliant with all required accessibility standards.

Navigation and accessing information

  • The site is not fully keyboard accessible. Although some elements are navigable with a keyboard, the site loses focus when moving through the page with the keyboard.
  • Users will experience a keyboard trap whereby they are caught in a loop as they tab through options on the page using a keyboard.
  • There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).
  • Not all links on the site are contextual.
  • Headings are generally consistent in size but other text in the body of some pages is inconsistent in size.

Interactive tools and transactions

  • It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. The website is not mobile optimised.
  • It’s not possible for users to change text size or colour.

Forms

  • There are not many interactive forms on the website but the ones that are available are difficult to  navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag or form instructions.

Images

  • Our images do not have text alternatives which means they cannot be accessed by people using screen readers. We plan to add text to images by 31 December 2020 but we are aware that this may not be accessible to all screen readers.

Multimedia is also missing tags and so cannot be accessed by screen readers. We plan to add test alternatives by 31 December 2020 but are aware that limitations on the software could mean this remains inaccessible to some people.

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 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. However we plan to update pdf documents (within the capabilities of the software which the website is built on) that were published after 23 September 2018 to make them more accessible. We will aim to do this by 31 December 2020.

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 plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages as part of our plan to replace the website with a new site.

Pre-recorded video

Our videos do not have captions or an adequate description. This means that the information in the videos is not available to people who cannot see or hear the content. We are not able to add captions to videos because of the limitations of the existing website software. When a new website is launched to replace the existing tie, any video content would include captions and descriptions and meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

To improve the accessibility of the Trust’s website, we need to rebuild it using up to date software which will make it fully compliant with the new accessibility standards. Work has begun and we will update our patients and the public on progress.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

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

This website was last tested on 18 September 2020. The test was carried out internally by the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust.

We chose a sample of pages to test which included: the home page, parent and child pages with links to external websites, pages with links to other pages on the same website, pages with documents that can be downloaded e.g. pdfs, pages with forms and pages which had images on them.