Accessibility
Website accessibility statement
This statement applies to the Trust websites available via www.uhbristol.nhs.uk and www.waht.nhs.uk.
What is website accessibility?
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the organisation
responsible for developing web standards. The W3C states that: "Web
accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are
designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use
them."
For a full definition, and to see what accessibility means
for all website users, please see the W3C website.
Background
Our University Hospitals Bristol (UH Bristol) and Weston Area
Health Trust (WAHT) websites are very old and due for
redevelopment. The two Trusts merged in April 2020 and we currently
have a new temporary corporate website for the newly merged
organisation (www.uhbw.nhs.uk) which meets the
accessibility requirements.
While we try to make new content accessible to all users, we
can't guarantee that every part of each UH Bristol and WAHT site
will meet everyone's accessibility needs.
Our websites do feature in-built tools to enable users to alter
the way content is viewed using standard templates, e.g. the
ability to alter text size.
Standard web browsing software offers options to allow users to
alter the way they view content, and we do not deliberately
override these options. Our websites explain how to use these
tools.
There is some content which is difficult to publish in a way
that is fully accessible. For example, our Trust newsletter is
designed to be printed. While users are welcome to download this
document, it is not designed to be an online resource. It is
therefore not designed with web accessibility in mind.
What we're doing to improve accessibility
We are aware that we need to make changes to the accessibility
of this website and are currently working towards getting a new
website.
We have introduced a temporary website for corporate content
since merging to become University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS
Foundation Trust in April 2020, and this temporary website meets
the accessibility requirements.
In the meantime, we will ensure the content of this website
meets the requirements of the international WCAG 2.1 AA
accessibility standard. This is the minimum standard considered to
be acceptable for public sector websites.
We will also try to make all of our key content as accessible as
possible. An example of key content would be a document which
somebody needs to use to access a particular service related to
their disability.
However, our priority is to deliver a new website which will
feature improved accessibility for all content.
Get in touch
If you find a piece of content which you feel is not accessible,
or if you would like any content in another format, please contact
us. We will do what we can to make the requested information
available in an accessible format.
Write to us at:
Communications Team
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Headquarters
Marlborough Street
Bristol
BS1 3NU
Email: communications@uhbw.nhs.uk
Preparation of
this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 23 September 2020.
This website was last tested in September 2020. The test
was carried out by the UHBW communications teams.
