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Accessibility statement

Everyone should be able to access our services, including our websites. This accessibility statement applies to all websites managed by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust. Including;

The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the NHS Accessible Information Standard help us make our services better for you. That means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • 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’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible is this website?

We are committed to regularly reviewing and updating our website to improve accessibility. We know from several accessibility reports that parts of this website are not fully accessible.

  • many of our older documents and policies are in non-accessible PDF format.
  • some of our videos do not have captions/subtitles/transcripts.
  • we use auto-translation for our videos and animations which may misinterpret some instances of the voiceover. 
  • some of our pages and forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.
  • Some pages and document attachments are not clearly written, or have a reading age higher than 16
  • some of our resources and materials have been produced outside of the organisation and we cannot guarantee their accessibility.
  • some link text may not make sense when read on their own (for example, ‘click here’).
  • some pages may require zooming and 2D scrolling on small screens
  • some lists may not be formatted semantically

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille please get in touch;

  • Email: whcnhs.communications@nhs.net
  • Write: Communications Team, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, Charles Hastings Way, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR5 1RJ

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. Contact us if you have an accessibility query including:

  • Issues with accessing information or using this website
  • An accessibility problem not listed on this statement
  • Any positive feedback about this website’s accessibility

Please direct your feedback to

  • Email: whcnhs.communications@nhs.net
  • Write: Communications Team, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, Charles Hastings Way, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR5 1RJ

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 this website's accessibility 

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA/AAA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

  • Some buttons are not larger than 44×44 pixels (WCAG 2.5.5).
  • Some pages and documents have a reading age higher than 16 (WCAG 3.1.5). We regularly review our written information to ensure everyone can understand it, but sometimes we have to publish information of a legal or clinical nature. Where possible, we link to additional information that is easier to read.
  • Some of our PDFs do not have accessible titles: we know PDFs and closed file formats are difficult to use for people with accessibility needs, so wherever possible we use open standards (such as CSV) and HTML pages instead. Where we find documents that are not accessible, we will either fix them, convert them to HTML pages, or remove them.
  • We use Google Maps to provide a map of local pharmacies on our sexual health webpages, which is not screen-reader accessible. Therefore, we also provide this information as plain text.

·         Related items should be written semantically as a list. Some lists on our website are not presented in this way, and lack bullet points/numerical ordering.

  • Our websites have been developed and tested in several desktop and mobile device internet browsers using Responsive Web Design techniques. This means that you should be able to comfortably view the site on either a computer screen, smartphone, or tablet. However, compatibility may be impacted if you are using an older device.

Content that's not within the scope of accessibility regulations

  • PDFs and other closed file formats

We know that not all PDFs are fully accessible to screen reader software. We are actively working to remove older PDFs from our website, where unavoidable, PDFs will be designed to ensure they are accessible. If you are having any problems accessing these documents, please contact us using the details at the bottom of this page so we can provide this information in an alternative format.

PDFs may still be used in instances where the document or material has been designed for download and print, for example, printed leaflets or posters. 

  • Videos

Some videos embedded in our website don’t have accurate subtitles/captions, and/or transcripts. Where possible we try to signpost users to video hosting platforms to enhance the accessibility options available. If you are having any problems accessing a video, please contact us using the details at the bottom of this page so we can provide this information in an alternative format.

All new content that is added to our websites is checked against  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 prior to upload.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was last updated on 13th June 2025.

This website was last tested in March 2025. The test was carried out by VerseOne Technologies Ltd. Our next report is due in July 2025.

Note: In order to establish website compliance with WCAG 2.1 the Auditor uses specialist adaptive software and browser technologies for testing purposes; together with the inbuilt accessibility tools provided by VerseOne Technologies Ltd which have been incorporated within the website.

We tested our main website platform, available at www.hacw.nhs.uk.