Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to content published on the mypowerofattorney.org.uk domain. It does not apply to other My Power of Attorney websites.

This website is run by My Power of Attorney. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, 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.

The BBC website also has guidance on:

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Some Portable Document Formats (PDF) documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software. For example;
    • some PDFs do not have a logical structure based on tags and headings,
    • some PDF document properties are missing such as title, subject, author and keywords,
    • some tables in PDFs do not have column and row headers and
    • some images in PDFs do not have text alternatives.

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information on this website in a different format like HTML, accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, etc… contact us by email at info@mypowerofattorney.org.uk.

When you contact us and please tell us:

  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your name and email address
  • the format you need, for example, HTML, audio CD, or large print, accessible PDF.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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 Web Team by email at info@mypowerofattorney.org.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).

Contacting us

You can contact My Power of Attorney by:

  • Emailing us at info@mypowerofattorney.org.uk

You can also contact us my submitting a query through our web form at https://mypowerofattorney.org.uk/apply-now/

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

My Power of Attorney 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 listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  1. Many of our PDFs do not contain a relevant document title. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion PDF18: Specifying the document title using the Title entry in the document information dictionary of a PDF document. Work is ongoing to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in order of patient need and frequency of use.
  2. Many of our PDFs have diagrams and/or tables. Some of these do not have a text alternative, so 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). Work is ongoing to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in order of patient need and frequency of use.
  3. Many of our PDFs do not contain fully tagged content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion PDF3: Ensuring correct tab and reading order in PDF documents. Work is ongoing to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in order of patient need and frequency of use.
  4. Many of our PDFs do not identify headings, lists or data tables correctly. This means users using screen readers may not be able to follow the structure of a document, which may affect their ability to access and understand the information. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships). Work is ongoing to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in order of patient need and frequency of use.
  5. Many of our PDFs do not contain the necessary correct tab order. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion PDF3: Ensuring correct tab and reading order in PDF documents. Work is ongoing to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in order of patient need and frequency of use.
  6. Many of our PDFs contain figures which do not have alternative text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion PDF1: Applying text alternatives to images with the Alt entry in PDF documents. Work is ongoing to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages in order of patient need and frequency of use.

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

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

PDFs and other 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 our archived board paper reports.

Some of our PDFs provide supplementary information for patients that are using our services. For example, we provide digital versions of patient information normally issued to patients in paper format.

Work is ongoing to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Work is ongoing to:

  • update PDF documents to be accessible
  • make sure new documents are accessible before they are published
  • publish documents in HTML where possible, rather than PDF
  • train staff to make sure they are aware of the importance of accessibility, and how to make their documents accessible

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in September 2020. It was last reviewed on 22 September 2020.

This website was last tested during the period of August to September 2020. The test was carried out by staff in NHS Lanarkshire’s Communications Department.

When deciding on a sample of pages to test, we chose based on:

  • our most popular pages
  • pages that gave a good example of each one of our templates
  • some pages including images, multimedia content and interactive elements
  • some pages including web forms

For information about our approach to testing please email the web team at info@mypowerofattorney.org.uk.