Accessible documents policy

Accessible documents policy at the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA)

Accessible documents at ACOBA

This explains how accessible the documents ACOBA publishes on GOV.UK are. It covers formats such as PDF’s, Spreadsheets and Word documents. It does not cover other content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement covers this.

Using our documents

ACOBA publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDF, Open Standards Format, MS Excel and MS Word.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:

  • write in plain English

  • tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they’re there for

  • avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data

  • provide an HTML option where possible

How accessible our documents are

Documents you need to download or fill in to access our services should be accessible. However, we know that some of our older transparency documents (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible. For example, some of them:

  • are photocopies and are not marked up in a way that allows screen reader users to understand them

  • are not tagged up properly - for example, they do not contain proper headings

This mostly applies to our corporate reports and transparency documents. But if you need to access information in one of these document types, you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.

What to do if you cannot use one of our documents

If you need a document we’ve published in a different format:

We’ll consider the request and get back to you in 7 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: [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 the accessibility of our documents

ACOBA is committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The documents ACOBA publishes are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations:

  • Our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). Any new PDFs or MS Word documents we publish will meet these accessibility standards and use headings.

  • The application form exists only in MS Word and Open Standards Format. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

How we tested our documents

We last tested a sample of our documents on 21 September 2020. The test was carried out by ACOBA.

We tested all documents and gov.uk pages required to access our service (such as guidance, rules, application form and web main pages); and a sample of our transparency documents, communications and corporate information.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have carried out a ‘disproportionate burden’ assessment and decided that making all of our older transparency documents accessible would be a disproportionate burden for the organisation. However, we are ensuring that all authors of documents that we publish externally are aware of the requirements to create accessible documents. We are keeping this under reviewing, including consideration on whether we can provide a full text alternative to the applications form.

This page was prepared on 21 September 2020.

It was last updated on 21 September 2020.

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