Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.northcarecharity.org – the website of NorthCare Charity. It applies solely to this website; links within this site to other websites are not covered by this accessibility statement.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. That is why we have an accessibility toolbar available at the bottom of our site. This means you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • Zoom in up to 200% 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 (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 have created this website to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. However we know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text within the site’s accessibility controls, however the site is compatible with external tools that enable this.
  • Older PDF documents contained within the website, such as our annual reports section, may not be fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • Our Twitter and Facebook feed do not meet the Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow, which means the information or functionality of the content may be lost when using accessibility tools on the pages they are hosted.

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 five working days.

If you cannot view the maps on our ‘Contact us’ or ‘Events’ pages, please call us for directions.

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 northcarecharity@nca.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 your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

NorthCare Charity 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, due to the exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Our Twitter and Facebook feeds do not meet the Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. This means the information or functionality of the content may be lost when using accessibility tools on the pages they are hosted. These embeds are provided by third parties, such as Facebook, which means we do not have the ability to change their functions.

Disproportionate burden

  • Older PDF documents contained within the website, such as our annual reports section, may not be fully accessible to screen reader software. To resolve the many PDFs, which are also legacy documents that do not relate to the new NorthCare Charity, would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

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.  For example, we do not plan to fix previous annual reports before this date. All new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
  • Live video: We do not plan to add captions to live video streams (not currently used on the site but may be in future) because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 21 April 2021. It will next be reviewed on or before 21 April 2022.

This website was last tested in April 2021. The test was carried out by team members of Frank. (web developer), NorthCare Charity, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and a small focus group made up of patients with accessibility issues, NHS staff and supporters.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will test this site for accessibility on a regular basis. We will record here the date of the most recent site test, specifying the dates by which any identified issues will be fixed.