Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to legacy websites on the BSUH domain created by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust including:

Using this website

This website is a legacy website of  Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. The Trust merged with Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in April 2021 to become University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

This website is managed by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

We want everyone to be able to access this website, meaning they can:

  • 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

How accessible this website is

This site was built in 2016 to be AA compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). However, we know that some parts of this website aren’t now fully accessible as per the latest guidelines, Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to non-compliances and exemptions:

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

PDFs and non-HTML documents

Some documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content and 1.3.1 Info and Relationships. In particular:

  • most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • older videos don’t have captions
  • some images don’t have alternative text of what the image shows
  • some buttons do not contain clear functional descriptions
  • some content displayed in a tabbed format is not accessible using keyboard alone
  • some forms do not contain clear or consistent form field descriptions
  • some colour contrast issues exist

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

PDFs and non-HTML documents

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. For example, we do not plan to fix past copies of reports, meeting papers and news.

What actions are we taking

For PDF documents published after 23 September 2018 that are essential for patient care, we have creating HTML equivalents and these are on our new website at www.uhsussex.nhs.uk .  We understand that the regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018, if they’re not essential to providing our services. However, if you need information in an alternative format, email uhsussex.equality@nhs.net

All video content published after 23 September 2020 contains captions.

We are working to resolve all identified accessibility issues which are within our control and will release them as soon as solutions are available.

This statement was last reviewed on 24 November 2022, and will be reviewed every 6 months.

The majority of our essential service information is contained on our new website at: www.uhsussex.nhs.uk. All sites on the legacy BSUH platform will be decommissioned by the end of 2023.

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page contact uhsussex.communications@nhs.net.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested in September 2020 by completing a manual audit using the .gov.uk guidance on doing a basic accessibility check; this included using the WAVE tool and the Siteimprove accessibility checker.

Exclusions

Please note that microsites that have been developed by third party developers that do not follow the template of this site (even if they carry the BSUH logo) may not be accessible.

More help and resources

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

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