Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

This website is managed by the Communications Team at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. 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
  • Increase text size
  • 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

We have worked hard to make sure our site is accessible to all. This has involved reviewing content, refining the navigation and making technical changes to ensure we are compliant with WCAG 2.1.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the non-accessible content section of this statement.

Accessible Information Standard

We can provide appointment letters and clinical patient information leaflets in other formats.  Please let the service you are a patient of know of any communication or information needs you have related to a disability.  They will then do their best to meet these needs.

This could include appointment letters in large print, Braille, Easy Read or electronically and/or a British Sign Language interpreter, SSE interpreter, Makaton, Deaf/blind manual interpreter or lip-speaker or speech to text reporter at your appointment. Please let the service know if you require a hearing loop, extra appointment time, a quiet space to wait and be seen, to be accompanied by a carer / family member or to have any other disability related adjustment.  This requirement to make disability related adjustments also applies to carers and parents of patients if they themselves have a disability.

Feedback and contact information

For general enquiries related to accessible information, please contact the Communications team on swbh.comms@nhs.net or tel: 0121 507 5303

Translating web pages

Our website does offer a translation service which can translate much of the content on our site in to a range of languages. To enable this:

  1. Open a web browser and go to swbh.nhs.uk
  2. In the top left corner, click on ‘Select Language’ and click on your preferred language.

The translations are performed by an online automated translation system and as a result may contain errors. Please use the translation as a rough guide only. SWB NHS Trust does not accept any liability for the accuracy of translations on this site or reliance upon information contained in those translations.

Listen to this site

This website is speech-enabled, which means that you can enable a range of tools to make this website easier to use and have the site read aloud to you. The software is called Reachdeck and is available on smartphones, tablets, PCs and Mac.

Reachdeck is a suite of tools that provide reading support on websites that reads website content out loud, highlighting each word as it is spoken in a high quality, human-sounding voice. Reachdeck is particularly useful for those with visual impairments, learning disability, difficulties, dyslexia or those with English as a second language.

Other features include:

  • Dual-Colour Highlighting
  • Text Magnification
  • Talking Dictionary
  • Talking Translator
  • MP3 Maker
  • Screen Masking

For further help and assistance regarding this product please see their website.

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 swbh.comms@nhs.net

How to get information in an accessible format

If you have problems accessing information on this website, or would like any of our work in a different format like a more accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, or braille, please contact the Communications Team with details.

Communications Department
Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust,
Trinity House,
Sandwell Hospital,
Lyndon,
West Bromwich
B71 4HJ

Tel: 0121 507 5303
Email: swbh.comms@nhs.net

We’ll consider your request, and aim to get back to you within 7 working days.

Please do not contact the Communications Department with any appointment related questions, as we do not have any access to patient information. Instead please call the Contact Centre.


Other languages

If you would like the translation of site content into a language which is not available, please do get in touch with the Communications team so we can arrange this for you.

Reporting accessibility problems

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of the website. If you find any problems which aren’t listed on this page, or think that we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations then please email swbh.comms@nhs.net to let us know.

 

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals 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.

Compliance status

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

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • There are elements within our website that cause the focus to be lost when tabbing through the page. This fails the WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible standard.
  • When resizing the webpage to 200% there are elements on the website that overlap making it difficult to access the content. This fails the WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text standard.
  • At 400% magnification and mobile view there are issues with elements within our website that do not reflow correctly, forcing users to scroll horizontally. This fails the WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow standard.
  • There are graphic elements within our website that contain text that do not meet requirements for colour contrast making them difficult to read. This fails WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text
  • There is a carousel in use on the homepage that does not have a fully accessible pause or stop function. This fails WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide standard
  • There are graphic elements on the website that do no meet the minimum contrast requirements. These fail the WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum) standard
  • There is a breadcrumb navigation that does not meet the requirements of WCAG 1.3.1.

We have the following non-accessible content:

Many documents such as board and council of governors papers, staff guidance and policies are not accessible in several ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure. We are looking into making all our documents more accessible and aim to fix these by end of February 2024.

This is not a comprehensive list as we are still identifying some accessibility issues. If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.

Disproportionate burden

  • Our site contains a large number of PDFs created in previous years, especially relating to service or information publications. Where these are no longer being updated, we do not intend to recreate them in accessible versions as this would be a disproportionate burden.
  • Where these are being updated, information will be converted where possible to accessible-friendly formats. This will take place within the normal cycle of updates.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. Many of these documents are aimed at an internal clinician audience but are published on the website for ease of access and transparency.

Not all of these documents are fully accessible. We are currently working on fixing essential documents or replacing them with accessible HTML web pages where possible. This work will be completed by end of February 2024. Not all documents will be fixed as some predate the regulations or are exempted for other reasons. If you need accessibility adjustments for a document please contact us using the methods above.

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. We are not currently aware of having any documents that fall into this category.

Third party content

Some of the content hosted on our website or linked to by us is created by third parties. We have no control over the accessibility of these documents and encourage third parties we work with to make their documents as accessible as possible. If you need accessibility adjustments for a document that may be controlled by a third party, please contact us using the methods above.

Video content

We do not plan to add captions to existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the 23rd September 2020. This content is exempt from the regulations. All new video content we produce will have appropriate captions, audio descriptions and transcripts as necessary.

Online Maps

Maps embedded from digital mapping services such as Google Maps, and maps made available in formats such as PDF – are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations where they are used for non-navigational purposes. However, we will always attempt to provide as much related information as possible in text, e.g. postcodes and directions.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to identify and fix issues on a continuous basis, additionally we are on track to launch a fully accessible website by February 2024 which should resolve all outstanding issues.

  • Work is continuing to remove documents which aren’t needed as soon as possible. Where information is still required, we plan to fix the document or republish it in HTML format.
  • We are aware we have a number of other non-accessible documents such as board and council of governors papers, staff guidance and policies. We are currently working on fixing these documents and the work will be completed by end of February 2024.
  • If you require one of these documents in an accessible format, please contact swbh.comms@nhs.net
  • There are some documents designed for printing.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was last reviewed on 6th October 2023.