Accessibility statement for think.gov.uk

This website is run by the Department for Transport, and this accessibility statement applies to this website only. 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% 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

Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
  • some heading elements are not consistent
  • some images and videos do not have good alternative text
  • many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille please email DfTPUBLICITY@dft.gov.uk

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 working days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page please email us DfTPUBLICITY@dft.gov.uk 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, then please contact the DfT THINK Team – Please email DfTPUBLICITY@dft.gov.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

The Department for Transport 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

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images and videos do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

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

Disproportionate burden

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in January 2021.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents 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).

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. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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 https://www.think.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Professional-driver-postcard-1.pdf.

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

How we tested this website

Testing was conducted by Helpful Digital. Where compliance has been tested it has been against WCAG 2.0 AA and more recently WCAG 2.1 AA. We also increasingly test for compatibility and usability with assistive technologies such as screen readers. We have reviewed all content published on or after 23rd September 2018.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are reviewing our approach and working towards meeting the regulations by:

  • developing our accessibility capability across the department
  • continuing to train our staff to create accessible services
  • increasing the use of automated and manual accessibility testing in our development process
  • publishing alternative formats for our users and where feasible making additional adjustments if these are not enough

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 do get in contact with us using the following details:

Email: DfTPUBLICITY@dft.gov.uk

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. It was last updated on 22 September 2020.

This website was last tested in December 2019. The test was carried out by Helpful Digital.

Helpful Digital carried out automated and manual testing using assistive technology, different web browsers and mobile devices using a sample of pages that represented the most commonly occurring page types.