Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to this website and all the pages contained on it.

This website is run by Dorset HealthCare. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colour to back and white (high contrast mode)
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • change the language using Google Translate.

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:

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and other assistive technologies.

Feedback and contact information

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

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 72 hours.

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, contact our web team at dhc.communications.team@nhs.net 

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

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

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Dorset HealthCare 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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

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. These do not meet some accessibility guidelines, including:

  • WCAG 1.1: Non-text Content
  • WCAG 1.3.1: Info and Relationships
  • WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Color
  • WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
  • WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text
  • WCAG 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced)
  • WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page
  • WCAG 3.1.2 Language of Parts
  • WCAG 3.1.3 Unusual Words
  • WCAG 3.1.4 Abbreviations
  • WCAG 3.1.5 Reading Level
  • WCAG 3.1.6 Pronunciation

We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in the future. The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 

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

Other aspects of the site which require attention include the service/location search, general webpage content (for issues with things like headings, links and images), maps and interactive content such as accordions.

Disproportionate burden

Having assessed the cost of fixing the outstanding issues mentioned above, we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

We are planning to develop a new website early in 2024 which would resolve these issues and make us fully compliant with the very latest  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard. We are aiming for the site to go live in the spring of 2024.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 6 September 2023. It was last reviewed on 1 November 2023.

This website was last tested on 31 October 2023. The test was carried out by Frank Design Ltd, the company that designed and developed this website.

We tested a selection of pages with all of the different functions available and being used. This approach allows us to include all of the functions and also adds up to include a range of basic webpage content at the same time.

Read the full accessibility test report.

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