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

This website is run by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The content on this website is designed for everyone to find, read, and understand. It is compatible with assistive technologies and developed to meet the accessibility standards outlined in this statement. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• zoom in up to 300 per cent 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.

View our site your way

There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Feedback and contact information

Please contact us if you have an accessibility query including:

• if you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
• if you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
• if you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made.

When you contact us there is a process in place that will acknowledge your contact, tell you who is dealing with it and give you a timescale by which you can expect a reply.

• email: bhrut.communications@nhs.net
• telephone: 01708 503 624

Alternative formats

If you need information in an alternative format, such as braille or a language other than English:

• email: bhrut.communications@nhs.net
• telephone: 01708 503 624

An English-speaker will take details of what you need and arrange a translation or interpreting service for you. You may need an English-speaking friend or a family member to help you with this.

We may not be able to meet your requirements immediately, but we will try to provide an interpreter (or translation service) to help you as quickly as possible.

Complaints process

If you have reported a problem with our website or asked for an alternative format, but you are not happy with our response, you can use our complaints process to register your difficulty. This helps us improve our processes.

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

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 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 non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

We formally test the accessibility of key user journeys that represent the breadth of content across our website on a regular basis against WCAG 2.1 AA standards. 

Some parts of the website may not work for everyone. Below are known issues that we either need to fix, cannot fix, or do not need to fix right now.

If you find something that does not work that we missed, please contact us.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This section covers issues that we need to fix and are working to do so.

Insufficient alt text

Some images contain text which cannot be read by assistive technology, such as screen readers.

Any relevant text is included in the image’s alt-text, which is visible to assistive technology.

Branded text such as logos, slogans or other marketing messages, may not be included in the alt-text if they are not relevant to what the image is conveying.

Images that do not contain sufficiently descriptive alt-text are not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.1.1, and WCAG guideline 1.3.3.

We correct insufficient alt-text over time as we review each page.

Disproportionate Burden

Not applicable - we have not claimed disproportionate burden for the purposes of this regulation.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have referral forms published as Word 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.

Live video

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

Pre-recorded video

The regulations do not apply to pre-recorded videos published before 23 September 2020. However, while these videos are not subject to the legislation, we have carried out an audit of all our videos and have begun a process of updating captions to our recently published videos. 

We use YouTube and Vimeo to embed videos onto our webpages. We are not responsible for the accessibility of the YouTube or Vimeo platforms.

Any new videos we publish will have edited captions, subtitles or be audibly described.

Third party content

Our website contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we endeavour to work with the third party to improve its accessibility. This may include:

• links to non-BHRUT websites
• content/functionality on our website
• content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1 September 2023. It was last reviewed on 22 August 2023.

This website was last tested on 22 August 2023. The test was carried out internally. Pages sampled were:

• pages common to many websites - for example, the home page and contact us
• pages with variations in layout and functionality
• most visited pages
• selecting pages at random