Accessible documents policy

Accessible documents at UK Export Finance (UKEF).

This policy explains how accessible the documents UK Export Finance (UKEF) publishes on GOV.UK are. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement will cover that.

Using our documents

UK Export Finance publishes documents in a range of formats, including:

  • .csv
  • MS Excel
  • MS Word
  • OpenDocument format
  • PDF

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:

  • provide an HTML option where possible
  • 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
  • write in plain English

How accessible our documents are

New documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be fully accessible.

However, we know that some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible. For example, some of them:

  • are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • are not tagged up properly - for example, they do not contain proper headings
  • are not written in plain English

This mostly applies to our committee publications and our Annual Report and Accounts publications up to 2018. These types of documents are exempt from the regulations, so we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible.

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 15 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] or call 020 7271 8010.

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

UK Export Finance 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 UK Export Finance publishes are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some of our PDF and MS Word documents include images without a text alternative. This means that the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all relevant images. When we publish new documents we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

A few of the documents we publish are produced by third parties. We’re not always able to make these fully compliant, for example by adding the appropriate heading structure or alternative text for images. This does not meet success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings). or success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We have informed third parties of our accessibility requirements but sometimes we have to publish documents at short notice that are not accessible. Where possible, we try to fix these as soon as we can.

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

Many of 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 2.4.10 (section headings).

Our application forms are published as PDF documents. We plan to fix these as soon as we can.

Our premium indicator for sovereign risk is published in MS Excel. We plan to make this accessible as soon as possible.

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. However, requests can be made to make specific content accessible for those who need it.

Any new PDFs we publish will meet accessibility standards, although our aim will always be to publish primarily in HTML.

How we tested our documents

We last tested a sample of our documents in August 2020. The test was carried out by staff in the department.

We tested:

  • PDFs
  • MS Word documents
  • MS Excel documents

We tested these documents based on how often people look at them and whether they are essential to providing our services.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are going to ensure all future documents are published in accessible formats.

We are also going to work to improve the readability of our content to better meet the WCAG 2.1 AA ‘understandable’ criteria.

This page was last updated on 22 September 2020.

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