Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the following website belonging to UHB:

• umbrellahealth.co.uk
• appointments.umbrellahealth.co.uk
• kits.umbrellahealth.co.uk

For details of non-compliance of sites available via sub-domains of umbrellahealth.co.uk, please see the section on “non-accessible content”, below. (Except where specified, this statement refers to umbrellahealth.co.uk. The sites available at appointments.umbrellahealth.co.uk and kits.umbrellahealth.co.uk are covered in the section on “non-accessible content”.)

Accessibility of this website

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, if your chosen web browser supports this
• 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 screen reader software

We also aim to make the website text as simple as possible to understand. (Though, in some places, text may have been written by people who are not experts in writing for the web.)

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

Requesting accessible formats

If you would like to request any of the information on this website in an alternative format, please let us know by contacting the UHB Web Team via Webmaster@uhb.nhs.uk.

Reporting accessibility problems

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 UHB Web Team via Webmaster@uhb.nhs.uk.

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 a complaint about our website’s accessibility, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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.

Please note, we have listed non-compliances based on testing conducted so far. If you find other non-compliances, please let us know by contacting the UHB Web Team via Webmaster@uhb.nhs.uk, so we can make the necessary improvements.

Non-accessible content

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

PDF documents and other downloadable files

• Downloadable documents are not adaptable by the user to suit their needs. This fails WCAG 2.1 guideline 1.3 (adaptable)
• Some documents are designed for print, rather than publication on the web, but have been published on our websites as helpful content
  • Where documents have been designed specifically for print, the colours used do not always meet colour contrast requirements for web accessibility. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum))
  • The formatting of these documents may make them difficult to use for users of assistive technology such as screen reader software, and for people using their keyboard to navigate the website. This fails WCAG 2.1 guideline 2.4 (navigable)

Where downloadable documents are made available in these formats and are not compliant, it is usually out of necessity, for the reasons stated. We will review further PDF documents before publication and will publish content in accessible formats where possible.

Google reCAPTCHA

For security purposes, our online forms use Google reCAPTCHA v2, which is a version of a “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” (CAPTCHA).

CAPTCHAs are an important security tool used to prevent automated submission of form data by malicious software (know as bots or spiders). According to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organisation which develops international standards for the web, reCAPTCHA v2 may not be accessible to users of all technologies in all instances. For example:

• “it has been widely observed that utilizing keyboard navigation, as many assistive technology users do, no longer works. Instead, users are presented with a traditional inaccessible CAPTCHA as a fall-back mechanism.” This would fail:
  • WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content)
  • WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard)
• “audio CAPTCHAs previously available with v2 implementations are now sometimes no longer being provided. Instead users see a message that reads: ‘Your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can’t process your request right now.'” This would fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content)

However, testing indicates that these technologies do often work with reCAPTCHA v2.

For full details of accessibility of CAPTCHAs, please see the W3C article “Inaccessibility of CAPTCHA”. Section 3.2 covers Google reCAPTCHA.

We will review the guidance on reCAPTCHA at least once a year, and implement any changes required to make the implementation of CAPTCHAs on our website more accessible.

If you find any form on our website to be unusable due to accessibility issues, please contact the UHB Web Team via Webmaster@uhb.nhs.uk. We will provide an alternative version of the form to allow you to submit the required data.

Online services

Our online STI self-sampling kit request and appointment booking services, available at appointments.umbrellahealth.co.uk and kits.umbrellahealth.co.uk are non-compliant in multiple areas, including but not limited to failing the following:

• WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content)
• WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
• Success criterion 1.4.1 (use of color)
• Success criterion 1.4.11 (non-text contrast)
• Success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard)

We will review the content and functionality of these sites and will aim to make them compliant by 31 December 2022.

Cookie message

• Some text does not appear as code on the page and is only added visually using stylesheets. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content)
• Some text and graphic components have insufficient contrast against their background colour. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum))

This functionality is provided by a third party service. We have raised the accessibility concerns with the supplier and will continue to monitor this.

Disproportionate burden

Urgent information

Some of the content on our website may need to be published at short notice to make it immediately available to a particular audience.

For example, information relating to the management of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic may need to be published quickly, which may not allow time for correct formatting or accessibility testing.

We’ve assessed the time and financial cost of fixing the issues with urgent information. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make regular assessments of this urgent information at least once a year, and will either remove the content or improve its accessibility, where viable.

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

Older video content

While we aim to make all of our content compliant where possible, we may not add captions to all pre-recorded video published before 23 September 2020, as this is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Maps

Online maps – those embedded from digital mapping services such as Google Maps, and maps made available in formats such as PDF – are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. However, we will always attempt to provide as much related information as possible in text, e.g. postcodes and directions.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1 September 2021. It was last reviewed on 23 September 2021.

This website was last tested on 23 September 2021. This test was carried out by the Web Team at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

We and our suppliers have tested or assessed each piece of content as the website was built, using the following as reference:

As well as developer tools in multiple web browsers, we and our suppliers have also used the following tools to test the website: