Accessibility statement

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible and are working towards make the below changes:

• Video streams do not have captions or transcriptions.
• You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader.
• Although we have a screen reader, our PDFs are not fully accessible.
• Not all images have alternative text.
• Visitors are not able to navigate the website using alternative methods to a mouse, such as a keyboard.
• Content that moves, flashes or updates automatically, such as the carousel on the homepage cannot be paused, stopped or hidden.

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

Email: epunft.marketing@nhs.net 

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

We provide a text relay service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us.

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, contact the marketing team: epunft.marketing@nhs.net or call 0300 123 0808.

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)

Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust aims to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at the AA standard. These guidelines are a worldwide standard aimed at making websites more user friendly for everyone.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliance and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

• Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by August 2024.
• We publish PDFs on our website including some of our patient information leaflets. Although we have a screen reader, some PDFs are not fully accessible. From September 2024, any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
• Our website cannot be fully navigated using only the keyboard, this fails WCAG guideline 2.1 – keyboard accessible. We aim to fix this by August 2024.
• Not all our prerecorded videos have subtitles, this fails success criterion 1.2.2 captions (prerecorded).
• Failure of success criterion 1.4.4 when text-based form controls do not resize when visually rendered text is resized up to 200%. For example, the home page.

Navigation and accessing information

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).

Job vacancy pages

https://eput.nhs.uk/working-here/vacancies is built and hosted through third party software and created to look like our own website.

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.

We have assessed the cost of making all of the PDFs published on our website fully accessible and believe that this would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. However, we will make sure that any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

The new website has been in operation since March 2022.

We are committed to ensuring the EPUT website meets the accessibility requirements of all those who access the information on the website. We are working on making the necessary updates to be AA level compliant.

This statement was prepared on 7 September 2020. It was last reviewed 13 December 2023.

This website was last tested on 13 December 2023.  We sampled a range of pages, including the top 10 most-visited pages on our website.

A report was also produced by Recite Me on 13 December 2023.

We have added digital inclusion software called Recite Me to our website – making our content more accessible with reading and translation support. This service is free for site users.

Click on the Recite Me image that appears in the top right of your screen to launch the support toolbar. 

Recite Me offers reading and translation support – helping you to access and understand our website better.

• text-to-speech: click on or select any text to hear it read aloud
• translation: written and spoken translations in multiple languages
• text magnification: enlarges text and reads it out loud
• mp3 generation: converts selected text into an MP3 audio file
• screen mask: blocks distractions on screen with a tinted mask
• web page simplifer: removes clutter from the screen, displaying only the main text
• settings: customise options to suit individual needs or preferences

Further information on how to use the toolbar can be found on our Website Accessibility page.