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Accessibility statement

West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (WHTH) is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to the website for West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

You should be able to:

The accessibility toolbar sits at the top of your screen and allows you to change the text size, language and colour contrast of the website.

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible. We’re committed to using plain English to make sure the information is easy to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Compliance status

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

Non-accessible content

We are committed to meeting our legal obligations set out in The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (“No. 2 Regulations”).

We know some parts of websites aren’t fully accessible. The content listed below is non-compliant with the accessibility regulations.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

YouTube videos

Captions/subtitles

Website visitors may need to check their settings or click through to the full YouTube site in order to access the onscreen words – if you require a transcript for any of our videos, ;please contact the communications team at westherts.communications@nhs.net

To turn captions on, please click the button on the embedded video player – this is reachable using the tab key

PDF documents

Not all of our PDF documents are accessible to screen reader software.

If you come across an inaccessible PDF document that contains information you need, please contact the communications team at westherts.communications@nhs.net

Disproportionate burden

We are unable to make our board papers accessible. Board papers are uploaded to the website monthly as PDF documents numbering hundreds of pages.

These pages contain scanned images and large reports sourced from multiple authors and services.

They are compiled and uploaded very shortly before they are legally required to be publicly available. Any delay due to making them accessible would risk a fine or a cancelled public meeting.

The cost of converting these documents is significant and is not financially justifiable. Instead, we ask you to contact the trust board secretary to request information contained in the board papers in alternative formats.

We have very limited in-house resource to carry out accessibility checks. The process for these checks includes a combination of manual testing and automated testing using accessibility monitoring tools.

As we continue to update our website, older content is archived which will eventually lead to the removal of many inaccessible PDFs.

We are in the process of procuring a new website. A new content management system will adhere to the latest website accessibility regulations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 22 September 2020.

The statement was reviewed and updated on 24 November 2023 further to revisions made following an evaluation and assessment by the Government Digital Service in August 2023.

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, contact westherts.pals@nhs.net

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, please:

We will respond to you in 10 days. For some requests our response time will be less than 10 days if the document includes a deadline or closing date.

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).