188体育

This policy explains how accessible the documents DCMS publishes on 188体育 are. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document. It does not cover content published on 188体育 as HTML: the main 188体育 accessibility statement covers this.

Using our documents

We publish documents in a range of formats, including PDF, MS Word and Excel and OpenDocument format.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:

• provide an HTML option where possible
• tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure
• make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they鈥檙e there for
• avoid using tables, except when we鈥檙e presenting data
• write in plain English

How accessible our documents are

New documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be fully accessible.

However, we know that some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible. For example, some of them:

• are photocopies and are not marked up in a way that allows screen reader users to understand them
• are not tagged up properly - for example, they do not contain proper headings
• are not written in plain English

These types of documents are exempt from , so we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible.

But if you need to access information in one of these document types, you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.

What to do if you cannot use one of our documents

If you need a document we鈥檝e published in a different format:

Email: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk

Alternative format requests:

We鈥檒l consider the request and get back to you within 20 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents

We鈥檙e always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we鈥檙e not meeting accessibility requirements, email: enquiries@dcms.gov.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 鈥榓ccessibility regulations鈥�). If you鈥檙e not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the .

Technical information about the accessibility of our documents

We are committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The documents we publish aim to be compliant with the , due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some of our PDF and MS Word documents include images without a text alternative. This means that the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all relevant images. When we publish new documents we鈥檒l make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Some of our PDFs contain complex tables with merged cells. This makes it difficult for people using a screen reader to determine the correct reading order. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

Where possible we will try to simplify the tables or make sure they are tagged properly for screen readers.

Some of our MS Excel spreadsheets may not be clearly structured with labelled tables, and labelled headings. Column headings may be blank. Workbooks tabs may not have a clear title. This does not meet success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We will make sure all new spreadsheets have an appropriate structure.

A few of the documents we publish are produced by third parties. We鈥檙e not always able to make these fully compliant, for example by adding the appropriate heading structure or alternative text for images. This does not meet success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings). or success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We have informed third parties of our accessibility requirements but sometimes we have to publish documents at short notice that are not accessible. Where possible, we try to fix these as soon as we can.

Disproportionate burden

There are thousands of historic PDF documents on our website. We have reviewed and prioritised our documents. We aim to fix those that are most used and are essential to providing our services.

The vast majority of the documents are of historic interest only and we do not intend to make them accessible. If you want a particular document in an accessible format email enquiries@dcms.gov.uk, and we will see if we can help.

Content that鈥檚 not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don鈥檛 meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they鈥檙e accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings).

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they鈥檙e not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix our research and statistics documents.

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

How we tested our documents

We last tested a sample of our documents in September 2020.聽

We tested:

• PDFs
• MS Word documents
• MS Excel documents

We tested these documents based on when they were published and聽whether they are essential to providing our services.

What we鈥檙e doing to improve accessibility

We have produced templates and guidance to make sure that all new documents that we produce are accessible.聽

We have changed the terms and conditions on which designers do business with us to specify that they must supply accessible documents.

We are prioritising publishing all attachments as HTML documents.

This page was published in February 2023.