This accessibility statement applies to all NHSBSA Official Statistics Narratives publications.
This website is run by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). 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 using browser or device settings
- zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard or speech recognition software (Voice Control and Dragon)
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent version of NVDA, JAWS 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 know some parts of this website are not fully accessible, as:
- some images do not have appropriate text alternatives
- you cannot change the spacing between lines, paragraphs, words and letters without some content becoming difficult to read
- there is no mechanism to bypass repeated navigation content
- some navigation headings do not contain text
- some headings are not structured in the correct order
- some links rely on colour alone to be distinguishable from surrounding text
- most older PDF documents and Excel spreadsheets are not fully accessible to screen reader software
Feedback and contact information
Contact us if you need information about this website in a different format, such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille. We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 5 working days.
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 using the same email address:
Email: [email protected]
This email address is only for accessibility queries. It is not for technical queries or IT problems. If you have a query that is not about accessibility, you can contact us by:
Email: [email protected]
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 NHSBSA 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 2.2 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
Some images do not have appropriate text alternatives. In some cases, alternative text is missing or does not adequately describe the purpose of the image. This means people using screen readers may not be able to access information conveyed by those images. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
You cannot change the spacing between lines, paragraphs, words and letters without some content becoming difficult to read. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.12 (Text Spacing).
There is no mechanism to bypass repeated navigation content. This means keyboard and assistive technology users may need to navigate through the same content on each page before reaching the main content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).
Some navigation headings do not contain text, which means they may not be announced correctly by assistive technology. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
Some headings are not structured in the correct order, which can make it more difficult for people using assistive technology to understand the structure of a page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
Some links are identified by colour alone, which may make them difficult for some users to distinguish from surrounding text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some of our PDFs and Excel spreadsheets are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with important information for how users can understand and interpret our data and information. We have replaced these with accessible HTML pages in later editions of our publications.
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 Prescription Cost Analysis 2019 – User engagement strategy.
Any new PDFs or Excel spreadsheets we publish will meet accessibility standards.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We’re committed to making sure this website is compliant to WCAG 2.2 ‘AA’ standard.
Our accessibility compliance statement will be reviewed regularly. Every newly released website will be designed, built, and tested to meet ‘AA’ standards by default.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was originally prepared on 3 November 2020. It was last reviewed on 12 June 2026.
This website was last tested on 23 September 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.
The test was carried out by the NHSBSA Official Statistics team. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by our website team. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.
We tested all the website screens to meet ‘AA’ WCAG 2.2 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 and JAWS) and standards checklists.
We run representative user journey tests through speech recognition software (Dragon).
These checklists contain standards that have been compiled using WCAG, the NHS service manual and the Government Digital Service (GDS) guidance.