This accessibility statement applies to www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk and was published on 27 June 2023.
This website is run by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.
We are aware that disabled people may have difficulty using our website, we are very sorry for this and wish to do everything we can to help you whilst we are working to resolve them.
If you find that you are unable to access information on this website, please get in touch using any of the following methods:
Call our helpline on 0161 656 1390 - 9am - 3pm, Mon-Fri - please leave a message outside these hours.
Alternatively, Email: trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk
Or use our contact form: https://www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk/contact-us
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- some images are lacking alt text
- some headings are missing or used incorrectly
- some links are missing, broken, display or behave inconsistently
- some of the pages do not provide clear guidance
- most PDF documents are not fully accessible to assistive technology, they cannot be read or completed
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact us using any of the following methods:
- email trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk
- phone 0161 656 1390
We will consider your request and get back to you within one working day
If you cannot view the map on our ‘patient information - getting here’ page, please call us on 0161 656 1390 or email us at trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk, for directions.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
If you find that you are unable to access any information on this website, please do get in touch using the following methods:
- email: trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk
- phone: 0161 656 1390
We aim to return priority enquiries within three hours during 9am - 3am - the following day outside these hours.
Translating this website
This website uses Google translate. Please note that the NCA cannot guarantee the accuracy of third party electronic translation tools used to translate content on our website into other languages. If you require information in another language, please contact the clinic you attend for assistance.
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 manage a complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf*, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Follow this link for further information: http://bit.ly/3PmOEGH
Find out how to contact us: https://www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk/contact-us
*The word deaf is used to describe anyone who does not hear very much. Sometimes it is used to refer to people who are severely hard of hearing too. Deaf with a capital D to refers to people who have been deaf all their lives, or since before they started to learn to talk.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation 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 listed below.
Non-accessible content
A detailed audit of this website has been carried out and each page has been tested for the following areas. Each of these either directly or indirectly affects the accessibility of the website.
- Website Accessibility Errors Priority A
- Website Accessibility Errors Priority AA
- Website Accessibility Errors Priority AAA
- Website Accessibility Errors for Screen Readers
- Website Coding Errors that affect Search Engines
- Website Coding Errors (W3C Standards)
- Usability and Navigation Issues
In addition, a thorough manual evaluation of different aspects of this website has been undertaken.
If you would like a copy of the full accessibility report, please contact us:
email: trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk
phone: 0161 656 1390
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations (WCAG 2.1)
Priority A
Word document contains a graphic without Alt Text.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A 1.1.1 Section 508 (2017) A 1.1.1 )
Word document contains a non-inline graphic or object.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A 1.3.2 Section 508 (2017) A 1.3.2 )
Document title must not be blank.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A F25 Section 508 (2017) A F25 Matterhorn 1.02 06-004 )
PDFs must be tagged to be accessible by screen readers.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A 1.3.1 Section 508 (2017) A 1.3.1 Matterhorn 1.02 01-005 )
Use the lang attribute to identify the language of the page.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A 3.1.1 Section 508 (2017) A 3.1.1 Matterhorn 1.02 11-001 )
Figures and images in PDF documents should have non blank ALT text, except for decorative images which should be marked as artifacts.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A F65 Section 508 (2017) A F65 Matterhorn 1.02 13-004 )
Each a element must contain text or an img with an alt attribute.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A F89 Section 508 (2017) A F89 )Identify row and column headers in Word tables.(Fails under WCAG 2.1 A F91 Section 508 (2017) A F91 )
We aim to resolve these issues by August 2025
Priority AA
Control labels should be unique on a page, or be close to text providing context.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AA 2.4.6 Section 508 (2017) AA 2.4.6 )
We aim to resolve these issues by September 2025
PDFs and other documents
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents.
We plan to either fix these accessibility issues or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
We will commit to making new documents accessible from June 2024.
All existing documents will be updated and changed to accessible versions as and when they are updated. We will commit to making an accessible version of a single existing document available if we receive a request to do so by email to trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
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 documents such as Annual Reports or Quality Accounts from prior to 2018.
WCAG AAA Guidelines
Don't use CSS animations or transitions in interactions without giving the user a way to turn them off.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 2.3.3 AAA)
Web pages must not contain any images that flash more than three times in any one-second period.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA 2.3.2 )
Several links on a page share the same link text, but go to different destinations.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA 2.4.9 )
This page is hard to read for users with learning disabilities or reading disorders like dyslexia.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA 3.1.5 )
Avoid specifying a new window as the target of a link with target=_blank.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA F22 )
Link uses general text like 'Click Here' which doesn't explain link purpose.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA F84 )
Many people with cognitive disabilities (including dyslexia) find text styled with text-align:justify hard to read.
(Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA F88 )
Other Guidelines
Link text replaced by aria-label attribute doesn't work in some screen readers.
(Fails under JAWS 2018.1811.2 )
an element placeholder link with no event handler or href attribute doesn't work in some screen readers.
(Fails under VoiceOver macOS 10.14 VoiceOver macOS 10.13 VoiceOver macOS 10.12 )
iframe with title attribute doesn't work in some screen readers.
(Fails under NVDA 2019.2 NVDA 2018.4 NVDA 2017.3 NVDA 2016.2 )
PDF does not contain XMP metadata stream.
(Fails under Matterhorn 1.02 06-001 )
The metadata stream in the Catalog dictionary does not include the PDF/UA identifier.
(Fails under Matterhorn 1.02 06-002 )
Users should be able to quickly look at each link and tell where it goes.
(Fails under Usability.gov 10:1 )
Use link text between 3 and 100 characters so it's long enough to be understood, but avoids line wrapping.
(Fails under Usability.gov 10:11 )
Avoid underlined text - people will click on it and think it's a broken link.
(Fails under Usability.gov 10:4 )
Use italic text sparingly - for one or two words or a short phrase.
(Fails under Usability.gov 11:10 )
Use bold text sparingly - for one or two words or a short phrase.
(Fails under Usability.gov 11:5 )
Use at least a 12-point font on all web pages.
(Fails under Usability.gov 11:8 )
Capitalize the first letter of the first word in lists.
(Fails under Usability.gov 12:9 )
Use option groups when a drop-down list has more than 10 items.
(Fails under Usability.gov 13:12 )
Make sure one radio button in a radio button group is always selected. If users can choose not to activate any of the radio button choices, provide a choice labelled 'None'.
(Fails under Usability.gov 13:23 )
Radio buttons are easier to use than drop-downs when there are 6 choices or fewer.
(Fails under Usability.gov 13:9 )
Omitting img width or height attributes makes the page layout jump about as images load.
(Fails under Usability.gov 14:3 W3C )
To enhance readability, sentences should be 20 words or less, and paragraphs 6 sentences or less.
(Fails under Usability.gov 15:7 Readability Guidelines )
Minimize the time required to download a Web site's pages.
(Fails under Usability.gov 2:6 )
Have a link labelled 'Home' on every page on the site, except for the home page.
(Fails under Usability.gov 5:1 )
Disproportionate burden
PDFs, Word and other documents
We are working through these documents to ensure they are fully accessible. Due to the number of documents, cost and time involved to rectify all errors, we cannot guarantee all documents on this website will be fully accessible. We’ve assessed the cost of fixing all of them immediately and we believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
However, if you have found a document that is not accessible and you wish to receive an accessible version, please email trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk and we will aim to provide an accessible version within five working days.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We plan to identify and fix issues, which fail the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A and AA standard by August 2025
We plan to identify and fix issues, which fail the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AAA standards by April 2025
We plan to identify and fix other issues raised in the audit by June 2025
We will update the accessibility statement when issues are fixed or when we expect them to be fixed.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This website was last tested on 26 May 2023 and this statement prepared on 27 June 2023. The statement was updated in November 2024 and will be reviewed on 26 June 2025.
The test was carried out by Clive Loseby and his team of disabled testers at Access by Design, using a combination of automated and manual methods.
The full audit, along with this accessibility statement, was prepared and produced by Clive Loseby, Access by Design.
If you wish for a copy of the audit please contact us:
email: trust.communications@nca.nhs.uk
phone: 0161 656 1390