Accessing our products and services
If you find it difficult to hear or speak
Use the National Relay Service 24/7 for free:
National Relay Service (NRS)
If you are d/Deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech/communication difficulty please contact us through your preferred NRS call channel detailed on NRS call numbers and links.
For more information visit: About the National Relay Service.
The World Wide Web is intended to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability.
These include people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight and cognitive ability.
Indeed, the United Nations recognises access to information and communication technologies, including the web, as a basic human right.
The following section outlines what we’ve done to make our website accessible.
What we've done
Clear layout and design
Our website has clear headings, navigation bars and consistent styling, making it easier to use for people with visual, cognitive and learning disabilities.
Moving, flashing or blinking content
We have very little content that moves, flashes or blinks and virtually all of it can be controlled — important for photosensitive people, for example.
Notifications and feedback
Our notifications and feedback, including our error messages, are clear and simple.
Reduced file sizes
We compress images and other files on our site, enabling people with slow internet connections to download web pages reasonably quickly.
Text alternatives (‘alt text’)
We use alt text to describe images to users who cannot see them; using a screen reader, these users can hear the alt text read out.
Understandable content
We endeavour to use short words and sentences, so our content is easy to understand.
Well-organised content
We’ve organised our content in a way that helps users to orient themselves and navigate effectively.
Continuous improvement
While we’ve done things to make our products and services accessible, we know there’s lots more to do, especially to our website.
Our goal is to meet an AA level of accessibility, as per the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0).
In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on how we could improve the accessibility of our site, please contact us.
Better web browsing: Tips for customising your computer: This W3C web page provides references to resources to help you customise your particular web browser and computer setup.
Contacting organisations about inaccessible websites: This W3C web page describes the steps you should take to report accessibility problems with an organisation’s website.
How to find accessible media and web browsers: This article, by the Centre for Inclusive Design, looks at the accessibility features of the five most popular web browsers.
