Accessibility statement

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to content published on cornwallft.nhs.uk domains.

Compliance status

This website is fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We plan to identify and fix issues on a continuous basis.

Since August 2022 we have worked hard to make sure our site is accessible to all. This has involved reviewing content, refining the navigation and making technical changes to ensure we are confirming to WCAG 2.1. We are happy to be currently regarded as one of the most accessible NHS Trusts by specialists such as the Silktide Index.

All images used in this site include descriptive alternative text. This means that if the person using this website has a visual impairment and is using software that reads the site content to them, it will include a description of any image on that page.

In November 2024 we fixed hundreds of issues. These fixes will allow screen-readers and keyboard only users to navigate our site much more smoothly.

Our website includes the facility for people using it to be able to change the contrast of the site and view in either black and blue font on a yellow background or yellow and blue font on a black background. The button to activate this function can be found after clicking on the accessibility tools box at the top right of each webpage.

Our Communications Team manages this website. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels, and fonts
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader

We use language that our users understand. We use plain English and do research to find out which words work best for them. We aim for a reading age of 9 to 11 years old. However, some of our content is technical and sometimes aimed at medical professionals. We may use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.

If you have a disability, AbilityNet has advice to help you make your device easier to use.

Non-accessible content

Identified issues

This is not a comprehensive list as we are still identifying some accessibility issues.

  • Some pages and document attachments are not clearly written, or have a reading age higher than 12 (WCAG 2.0 AAA 3.1.5).
  • Some interactive controls are not larger than 44×44 pixels (WCAG 2.1 AAA 2.5.5).
  • Some elements do not have focus styles; specifically the links within the Care Opinion and CQC widgets on the home page (WCAG 2.0 AA 2.4.7).
  • We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Many of our documents are not accessible in several ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure. From 27 November 2024, if we upload documents that are not accessible, we will add them to the list below and add them to our corporate risk register.

  •  December 2024 Council of Governors meeting papers. Published 29 November 2024.

Issues with technology

The vast majority of our website works correctly on any web technology.

However, this website no longer supports Internet Explorer, as this browser is at the end of its lifecycle. Read more about the withdrawal of Internet Explorer.

Partial compliance

Our site makes use of third party tools and widgets. Whilst we make all efforts to ensure any third party software is compliant to at least WCAG AA standard, this is not always possible. On our homepage, we are required to use the Care opinion widget. This widget fails the following success criteria for Focus Visible (WCAG 2.1 AA 2.4.7). We have fed this issue back and will update this statement to reflect any changes.

Disproportionate burden assessment

We have assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden to fix all documents published on these websites since 23 September 2018.

The majority of these documents are rarely viewed. Therefore they are unlikely to be negatively impacting users with disabilities or impairments. For this reason, we do not believe the cost of time, effort and resource to fix all the documents is justified. As documents come up for review or are updated, we will make them accessible.

We will focus on ensuring that new documents are accessible, especially where they are required for essential services or specifically address the needs of, or are meant for, persons with disabilities.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 2 December 2024. We used multiple resources to prepare this statement, with the main template being the model accessibility statement.

How we tested this website

We have used tools such as Lighthouse to ensure compliance. We also use Silktide to constantly monitor our site for compliance.

We constantly test this website for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A, level AA, and AAA. Where possible; we carry out these tests internally.

Feedback and contact information

Reporting accessibility, content or technical problems

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you find any problems or accessibility issues that are not listed on this page, contact our Communications Team.

Policies, guidelines, and documents

If you have any questions about our policies, guidelines, or documents, contact our Policies Team.

Request content in an accessible format

If you need information in a different format, contact the Communications Team and let us know.

Please provide the following details:

  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your name and email address
  • the format you need, for example audio CD, braille, BSL, large print, or accessible PDF.

For more information, read our Accessible Information Standard page.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the accessibility regulations).

If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.