Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to www.kernowccg.nhs.uk.

This website is run by NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. The website features software (Recite Me) that provides web content in a variety of formats to make content more accessible with easy speech, reading and translation tools including:

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

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand, aiming for a reading age of a 12 year old.

Some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.

If you have a disability then AbilityNet has advice to help you make your device easier to use.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

we have a large number of old publication documents which are in PDF format, and haven’t been designed for accessibility
some content is embedded in our website, such as videos, and you cannot easily scale these on screen (but you can open a full screen version)
some tables do not have row headers
some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
live video streams do not have captions
some images do not have good alternative text

How to request content in an accessible format

If you have problems accessing information on this website, or would like any of our work in a different format like a more accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, or braille:

email kccg.engagement@nhs.net
call 01726 627800

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 3 working days.

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 kccg.contactus@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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Issues with technology

The vast majority of our website works correctly on any web technology.

However, this website no longer supports Internet Explorer, as this browser is now at the end of its lifecycle. Read more information about the withdrawal of IE support.

Issues with links

We are aware of the following issues within the links on our site:

many older PDF files contain broken links which do not work – we do not intend to resolve these as it is a disproportionate burden for files which are no longer in active use

We scan the site weekly for broken links, and look to fix them as soon as they are identified.

Issues with PDFs and other documents

PDFs are not able to comply with the requirements of the web accessibility standard, and we do not generally upload new PDFs. Where we do create new PDFs, we use the PDF/A standard which is more accessible.

Our site contains a large number of PDFs created in previous years, especially in our policies and procedures.

Where these are no longer being updated, we do not intend to recreate them in accessible versions as this would be a disproportionate burden. The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

By March 2021 we intend to have completed the process of converting PDFs still in active use into accessible web formats.

We do not generally add new PDFs to our site. There are some exceptions:

we add some PDFs as downloads of reports or publications, but where a web page version is also available
our annual reports, which must, by law, be laid before parliament in a printed version, and then appear unaltered
our directions and data provision notices which must, by law, include a signature in order to be valid
downloads intended for print purposes, such as posters

We also have a number of forms in Microsoft Word format, which are not accessible. We will either replace these with accessible HTML forms, or remove them, by March 2021.

Issues with images and video

We strive to make all of our content accessible. We are aware of the following issues with images and video on our site:

some of the video content does not have captioning
some of the images on our site are complex diagrams where suitable alt text is not possible

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by October 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Issues with text and content

There are some issues with text and content which we are aware of:

not all of our content reaches our target reading age of 12 years old
some of our page titles are long, causing a technical fail on descriptive titles for web pages which requires titles to be short. In most cases, this is related to legal or formal names for publications

We are resolving the content issues as content comes up through its annual review cycle, and this should be largely complete by December 2021.

We are not going to fix page titles, as the content is still understandable, and changing titles might cause compliance issues

How we tested this website

This website was and is currently being tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, and these tests have been carried out internally.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

What we are doing to improve

We are actively looking to improve the accessibility on our website.

The improvements below have been identified on our current work schedule.

Target date	Item of work	Type of work	Status
October 2020	Finish removing unclear links, like ‘click here’	Content	Complete
October 2020	Add text alternatives to images	Content	In progress
January 2021	Change background colour of website to grey in order to better serve dyslexic users	Developer	Complete
December 2021	Target reading age of 12	Content	Ongoing

This statement was prepared on 12 September 2020.

This website was last tested on 1 September. The test was carried out by NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group.

Accessibility tools

Recite Me

This website uses Recite Me. Recite Me is an innovative Cloud based web accessibility solution which allows you the visitor to customise this website the way you need it to work for you. Easy to use, the software includes text to speech functionality, dyslexia software, an interactive dictionary, a translation tool with over 100 languages and many other features.

Toolbar Button Guide

Back: rewind to the previous paragraph of text
Play: click the Play button to read the text aloud
Forward: skip forward to the next paragraph of text
Decrease: this will decrease the text size
Font: you can change the font that displays on the page
Increase: this will increase the text size
Colour: change the background, text and link colours
Ruler: click to enable the reading ruler

Margins: change the text dimensions by narrowing the width of the text column
Dictionary: highlight and click on this to find the definition of the word
Text Mode: remove images and view in plain text mode
MP3: highlight the text then click to download text as an MP3
Magnifier: click and drag the magnifying glass to magnify text on the screen
Language: translate text into a different language
Settings: adjust your Recite settings
Authentication: login/logout and close the Recite Toolbar

User guide

Read the comprehensive Recite Me toolbar guide

Click the accessibility tools button in the header of this website to bring up the Recite Toolbar

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to download anything to enable Recite?

No. Recite is cloud-based software so there is no need to install anything on your computer.

How do I launch the Recite toolbar?

To launch the Recite Web accessibility toolbar you will need to click on the Recite button. This will then launch the toolbar, which will appear at the top of the page.

How do I disable the auto read?

To disable the auto read you need to click on the button marked settings. This will give you a list of 3 functions to choose from. You need to click on the bottom to the right of the option marked autoplay this will then disable auto read.

Does recite work across different operating systems and mobile devices?

Yes. Our software on multiple devices and operating systems including Android, iOS, Linux, Mac and Windows devices.

Can I save my settings?

Yes. Once a user creates an account they can save their settings so your website appears exactly as they need it every time they visit.

How do I change the language?

To change the language of the website that you are viewing you need to select the button marked languages. This will then produce a drop down list of all the languages that Recite offers translation too. Find the language that you want from the list and press on it, the site will then be converted to that language.

How do I create and MP3?

To create and MP3 first turn of the autoplay option located within the setting button. Highlight the section of Text that you wish to create into an MP3. Once highlighted select the MP3 button from the toolbar. You will then see a message telling you that you file is being created. Once created you will see the file appear ready at the bottom of the web page. You can now either listen to the file created or save it to a location of your choice.

How do I turn Recite off?

To close the Recite toolbar simply click on the icon marked authentication. This will then give you the option to close the recite tool bar by clicking on the close button.