Accessibility statement for the NHS Business Services Authority website

This accessibility statement applies to the NHS Business Services Authority website content published on the www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk domain. It does not apply to nhsbsa.nhs.uk subdomains (for example, https://services.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-for-help-paying-nhs-costs).

This website is run by the NHS Business Services Authority. 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 the website using speech recognition software (including the most recent version of Dragon and Voice Control)
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard

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 know some parts of this website are not fully accessible, as:

• users using Internet Explorer version 11 and navigating with the keyboard cannot read question hints
• NVDA screen reader users cannot navigate from the error message to the field that contains the error
• NVDA screen reader cannot read out the timeout warnings
• you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader on some pages

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, you can contact us by:

Email: nhsbsa.accessibility@nhs.net

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

This inbox is only for accessibility queries. This inbox is not for technical queries or IT problems. If you have a query that is not about accessibility, go to the ‘Contact us’ section of this page.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, you can contact us by:

Email: nhsbsa.accessibility@nhs.net

This inbox is only for accessibility queries. This inbox is not for technical queries or IT problems. If you have a query that is not about accessibility, go to the ‘Contact us’ section of this page.

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).

Contact us

For all queries not accessibility related, you can contact us by:

Email: nhsbsa.faregistrationsOHS@nhs.net

Technical information about this website's accessibility

The NHS Business Services Authority 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

Users using Internet Explorer version 11 and navigating with the keyboard cannot read question hints. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).

NVDA screen reader users cannot navigate from the error message to the field that contains the error. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (Error Identification).

NVDA screen reader cannot read out the timeout warnings. Screen reader users will not be aware of a session expiry warning and any information already entered will be lost. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.6 (Timeouts).

You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader on some pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).

We plan to fix these accessibility issues by May 2022. When we publish new content, we’ll make sure it meets accessibility standards.

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

External links

Some links from the website will direct users to external websites where accessibility issues have been identified. This may cause difficulties for users with accessibility needs or those that use assistive technologies.

We’ll review the usage of these links before our next accessibility review and contact these third parties to identify the issues we have found.

Document upload

Due to an issue with Dragon and some older versions of this assistive technology, users will have difficulties interacting with the document upload buttons. We advise Dragon users to use the mouse grid feature to interact with the file upload functionality.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We’re committed to making sure this website is compliant to WCAG 2.1 ‘AA’ standard.

Our accessibility compliance statement will be reviewed every 6 months. Every new released website will be designed, built, and tested to meet ‘AA’ standards by default.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 31 December 2021. It was last reviewed on 12 April 2022.

This website was last tested on 12th of May 2022 and again on June the 14th. The test was carried out by the TPXImpact test and development teams.

We tested all the website screens to meet ‘AA’ WCAG 2.1 standards, using manual and automated tests.

We run each webpage through automated Wave, Lighthouse and Axe accessibility tools then manually test with screen readers (NVDA or VoiceOver) and standards checklists.

We run representative user journey tests through speech recognition software (Dragon or Voice Control).

These checklists contain standards that have been compiled using WCAG, the NHS service manual and the Government Digital Service (GDS) guidance.