This accessibility statement applies to portal.hfea.gov.uk.
This website is run by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Most PDFs and word documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
- There are occurrences of incorrectly marked up text throughout portal.hfea.gov.uk which may cause confusion for visitors using screen readers.
- Some link text does not have a sufficient contrast ratio and may be difficult to distinguish for users with low vision.
- The ‘close’ button for the cookie banner cannot be focused on or selected by keyboard only navigation using the tab key.
- There is no skip-link present on the ‘knowledge base’ pages for visitors using keyboard only to bypass the navigation.
- The search field on the knowledge base is unlabelled and does not indicate to visitors using a screen reader that you are searching the content of the knowledge base.
- The form (drop down date menu) on the chairs letter page is unlabelled and visitors using screen readers or voice activation may struggle to determine the purpose of the input which is to filter by date.
- Selecting the filter by date option on chairs and executive later pages via keyboard input initiates a page refresh, causing focus to be taken back to the top of the page. This makes filter selection changes challenging for visitors using screen readers.
- In the top navigation menu, the light green text used to indicate the current page does not meet minimum contrast requirements. This text may be difficult to see for visitors with low vision.
- There are several ‘Download PDF’ links found on the consent form and clinic form pages which are ambiguous out of context. This may make it difficult for visitors using screen readers to determine what each link refers to if navigating out of context.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format that’s accessible for you:
- Email communications@hfea.gov.uk.
- We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Communications team by email at communications@hfea.gov.uk.
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
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Compliance status
This website is 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 that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:
- where it fails the success criteria
- our plans to fix these issues.
Some link text link text is identified by colour alone and does not have a sufficient contrast ratio with surrounding text to. This fails WCAG 1.4.1 A (Use of Colour). We have had this issue appraised by external developers and the work will be considered in the 2021/22 financial year.
We have identified one element which cannot be focused on or selected by keyboard only navigation using the tab key. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 A (Keyboard). We have had this issue appraised by external developers and the work will be considered in the 2021/22 financial year.
There is no skip-link present on the ‘knowledge base’ pages for users to bypass the navigation. This fails WCAG 2.4.1 A (Bypass Blocks). We have had this issue appraised by external developers and the work will be considered in the 2021/22 financial year.
Some forms do not have a programmatic label. This fails WCAF 1.3.1 A (Info and Relationships. We have had this issue appraised by external developers and the work will be considered in the 2021/22 financial year.
We have identified two instances of a page refreshing unexpectedly when selecting an input. This fails WCAG 3.2.2 A (On Input). We have had this issue appraised by external developers and the work will be considered in the 2021/22 financial year.
There are instances where text does not meet minimum colour contrast requirements. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 AA (Contrast Minimum). We have had this issue appraised by external developers and the work will be considered in the 2021/22 financial year.
Disproportionate burden
PDFs and other documents
Some of our historical PDF and Word docs and forms are not accessible. For example, some PDFs may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services.
Some PDFs and word documents are essential to providing our service, for example, our consent forms and clinic forms. We have assessed the cost and working hours required to make these PDFs accessible and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will continuously assess this for various documents as they are updated. If you require any of these documents in an accessible format, please contact the communications team by email at communications@hfea.gov.uk We will consider your request and respond within 10 working days.
New PDFs or Word documents will meet accessibility standards, unless we determine that they represent a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations, for example, publications created for print. We’ve assessed our resources with the above documents and we believe that fixing these now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
These documents typically don’t meet the following WCAG 2.1 success criteria:
- 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value – Level A
- 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) – Level A
- 2.4.6 Headings and Labels – Level AA
- 2.4.10 Section Headings – Level AAA
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
The website, portal.hfea.gov.uk was tested on 6 April 2020 and several issues were identified. These issues will be appraised and fixed in order of priority, starting with level A criteria. We will update this statement as these issues are resolved.
We will be continuously monitoring the accessibility of our website and retesting when issues are resolved, or new issues identified.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 6 August. It was last reviewed on 19 August 2020.
This website was last tested on 6 April 2020. The test was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre.
You can read the full accessibility test report here (PDF 1,510KB).