Accessibility statement

Last updated on 3 May 2023

Introduction 

This website is run by the Health Research Authority. The accessibility statement tells you how:

  • accessible this website is
  • you can get in touch about an accessibility issue
  • we’re improving accessibility on our website and about our new IRAS website which will be deployed live in 2022.

This statement covers our:

It does not cover:

  • external services that we also support either solely or in partnerships with other organisations.

Accessibility matters

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 400% 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 are committed to making this 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 2.1AA standard, due to non-compliance and exemptions listed below.

Issues we're working on

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

  • some of our PDF documents are not accessible to screen reader software
  • we still have some Word documents on the website – these are being converted to HTML, PDF or open (ODT) documents
  • we still have some Word versions of our fillable forms
  • some of our older videos do not have captions

Non-accessible content is further outlined below.

Feedback and content information

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

  • email communications@hra.nhs.uk
  • call 0207 104 8333
  • write to: HRA Communications Team, Health Research Authority, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within five 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, please contact The HRA Communications Team by emailing: communications@hra.nhs.uk. We will endeavour to reply to your request within five working days.

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

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The HRA 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 and exemptions listed below.

Non accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Documents on the website

Some of our PDF and Word documents published before September 2019 are not currently accessible - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 – principle 2: operable.

We’ve updated content that is essential to accessing our services and when we publish new content, we’ll make sure we use HTML for 15 pages and under or add an accessible PDF where over 15 pages.

We are also aiming to reduce the amount of PDFs on our website by replacing them with web pages where possible.

If you are having trouble with any of our documents due to accessibility, please contact communications@hra.nhs.uk.

Fillable forms

We have some fillable form documents on our website which are not accessible to screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 – principle 2: operable.

We have moved many of these over to HTML and will be reviewing the remaining forms over the coming months and aim to move and integrate all our remaining fillable forms over to a new website and digital platform in 2022.

If you are having trouble with any of our fillable forms due to accessibility, please contact communications@hra.nhs.uk.

Documents produced by other organisations

Some of our forms and guideline documents are produced by EU or UK partners. This currently fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We will update these to accessible documents as accessible versions become available from partners.

Content hosted by other organisations

Our Learning Management System (LMS) is delivered by Premier IT Partnership Ltd.

We are working with them to ensure our learning resources are accessible to all.

If you find a resource which is inaccessible and want to request it in an alternative format, please contact training@hra.nhs.uk.

Disproportionate burden

Our CAG registers are not accessible. This currently fails WCAG 2.1 Principle 2: Operable. We’ve assessed the cost of making these registers accessible. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will continue to assess and review what format these registers need to take when development work begins on our new digital platform and website in 2022. The aim is to redevelop the registers in an accessible format when they go on the new IRAS website.

If you require help accessing information from the CAG register, please contact communications@hra.nhs.uk.

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 PDFs and Word documents with information on how users can access our services. We have fixed or replaced our most popular PDFs and word documents which are essential to providing our services with HTML pages or accessible PDFs.

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents produced before 23 September 2018 do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

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 boards papers from before this date.

Any new PDFs we publish for guidance and reports will meet accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

Our CAG registers are not accessible. This currently fails WCAG 2.1 Principle 2: Operable. We’ve assessed the cost of making these registers accessible. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will continue to assess and review what format these registers need to take when development work begins on our new digital platform and website in 2022. The aim is to redevelop the registers in an accessible format when they go on the new IRAS website.

If you require help accessing information from the CAG register, please contact communications@hra.nhs.uk.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are working to improve accessibility on this website. We have carried out staff training and have invested in new software to help make the content we produce easier to navigate by including page-anchors.

Our accessibility roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

Roadmap

Accessibility issue Resolution Target date
Testing our website and fixes made to some alt texts, hyperlinks, flow diagrams Complete October 2021
Preparatory work to move fillable forms to new website Developers commissioned and discovery, alpha and scoping phases in process October 2021 ongoing
Reducing documents by changing to HTML as policies come up for renewal Recent example: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy Ongoing -
Testing our website Time period booked Februuary2022

Resolved issues

The following issues have now been resolved.

Accessibility issue Resolution Completion date
Accessibility statement does not follow Government template Accessibility statement updated and checked with our developer November 2021
WCAG issues identified by the Government Digital Service in May 2021 All issues have been addressed and improvements are now live

This involved some external work with our website provider.
September 2021
WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) Poor colour contrast was identified on the homepage where ‘click here to find out latest news and update from across the HRA’ does not have sufficient colour contrast on white background. Solution delivered. Due to a redesign of the Health Research Authority homepage this particular block is now not used across the site, and so no update was required. September 2021
WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value - all buttons must have a descriptive accessible name so that screen reader users can understand the destination, purpose, function, or action of the button. This issue was found across all webpages and refers to the X to close the glossary tab. The relevant button classes and labels have now been applied to the close option. September 2021
WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard

Keyboard cannot be used to select 'Accept cookies' or 'See cookie policy'
Cookie banner cannot be closed using keyboard
At 200%, 400% and in mobile view the hamburger menu is not accessible using the keyboard
Keyboard select options have been added across the site to ensure that visually impaired users can successfully navigate throughout the site - this includes states for all cookie items, as well as access to the mobile menu when zoom is used. This is outlined in this video (with sound) https://v.usetapes.com/eh2IBKYhFk. September 2021
WCAG 2.4.7 Focus visible

Focus was not clear on Subscribe button in the 'Sign up here'' box
Focus was not clear on Accepts all cookies or See cookie policy within cookie box Covid 19 page

Focus was not clear for the user on 'sign up to our newsletter' Planning and improving

Focus was not clear on `What do patients and the public think about health research?`
Focus has been added to the all of these aspects September 2021

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23 September 2019. It was last updated on 1 November 2021.

This website was last tested on 26 October 2021 by the Communications Team at the HRA. It will be reviewed every quarter going forwards. We will also consider an independent accessibility audit as part of our future roadmap using Nomensa.

We used Google Analytics to review our top 100 most visited pages in the last year (September 2020 – September 2021), checking each page for accessibility including: appropriate alternative text for all images, appropriate length hyperlink text and colour contrast.

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