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Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

This accessibility statement applies to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board website.

This website is run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  1. change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
  2. zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  3. navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
  4. listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

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:

  1. Some pages and documents contain text that has poor colour contrast.
  2. Many documents are in non-HTML formats, for example PDF. 
  3. Some pages contain headings that are not logically ordered.
  4. Some pages are not fully usable with the keyboard.
  5. Some pages have an illogical focus order.
  6. Parts of some pages and menus may not work well with assistive technologies, such as screen readers.
  7. Some images may not have an alternative text description.
  8. Some pages and online forms may not be fully usable with the keyboard.
  9. Some links do not have accessible descriptions.
  10. Some images used to convey information have poor colour contrast
  11. Some videos do not have transcripts/audio descriptions.
  12. Some parts of the website such as the About Us area including some pages under Services contain PDF documents which we know are not accessible PDFs.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email the Digital Communications Team in the first instance and we support with your query, and/ or pass on your request to the relevant department. We will consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
If you need information on this website in a different format such as an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). 

The Centre of Sign Sight and Sound (COSS)
The Health Board provides two key sources of additional support in collaboration with the Centre of Sign Sight Sound (COSS). COSS can provide support in making and changing appointments, providing advice and guidance and enable you to communicate effectively with the Health Board, GPs and other health services. They can also provide you with an Accessible Health Communication Card which enables you to easily identify your communication needs to health care professionals, these can also be obtained from our Audiology Department(s). Contact information for this service is available on the Centre of Sign Sight Sound (COSS) website. 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website
If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting the accessibility requirements, email the Digital Communications Team.

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

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard in full. This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 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

  1. Images on some pages do not always have suitable image descriptions. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to information conveyed in images. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
  2. Some PDF documents have missing titles within the PDF document. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 2.4.2, Page titled
  3. Some documents have elements which are not tagged correctly. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.3.1, Info and Relationships
  4. Some images use colour as the only way to convey meaning. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Color). 
  5. Some images include text with poor colour contrast to its background. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).
  6. The links under 'Contact the Health Board online', 'NHS Wales Shared Services' and 'Contact the website team' do not have sufficient colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
  7. Documents have elements that do not have sufficient colour contrast. This includes table headings. This fails the WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
  8. Some pages use images of text instead of text. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of Text).
  9. Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).  When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden 

Under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, we are committed to making our website accessible. However, we have determined that meeting certain accessibility requirements would impose a disproportionate burden on our Health Board.

The reason for this Disproportionate Burden Assessment is due to the significant number of PDFs on the Health Board's website that are not accessible. These documents, created over several years by various authors across the Health Board, do not meet WCAG 2.2 accessibility guidelines.

Realtime Feedback Survey

We are aware of the following issues with the Realtime Feedback Survey form:

  • The keyboard focus is not visible when tabbing between 'Ward/Dept/Service' select and 'Take survey' 
  •  AXE issues: WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value - Required ARIA attributes must be provided
  • AXE: ARIA attributes must conform to valid values
  • AXE: Form elements must have labels 

Timescale to fix the issues: The Welsh Risk Pool are working with Civica on a whole system upgrade (NHS Wales wide), which will take affect between the 17-24 February 2025.   

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. 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.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

  • We are working alongside Digital Health and Care Wales, Corporate Governance and other Health Board departments and agencies to fix content which fails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version WCAG 2.2 AA standard. 
  • We provide contact information for the relevant department should an alternative format of information or further support be required.
  • We are routinely working our way through various sections of the website in order of priority and/ or older sections to update, refresh and fix non-compliant issues with the accessibility of content on those pages. 
  • The Corporate Governance and Partnerships and Communications and Engagement directorates are in the process of writing a paper which outlines how we plan to manage the publication of accessible documents (such as Board papers, plans, reports and patient literature) and information. Following the presentation of this paper, a Task and Finish Group will be established to take this work forwards from February 2025. Updates will be provided here at the next stage, once decisions have been made at an Executive level and the work can begin. 

Sample audits 

We have introduced routine audits using axe DevTools on a sample of our website on a quarterly basis, with the next audit taking place in April 2025. We will aim to fix all errors and issues picked up within the routine audit within the same month of the audit. We last audited a sample of the website on the 14 January 2025, we will next audit the website on the 14 April 2025. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16 January 2019. It was last reviewed on 27 December 2024, to be reviewed next on the 27 March 2025.

This website was last tested on 22 October 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by the Government Digital Service. They used a mixture of simple manual checks and automated tests to find only the most common barriers to users with accessibility needs. 

Accessibility report for bcuhb.nhs.wales.