Accessibility
Accessibility statement for MediaCentre.HS2.org.uk
This accessibility statement applies to mediacentre.hs2.org.uk.
This website is run by High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd. 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 using browser or device settings
- zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using a keyboard or 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.
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:
A small number of accessibility and usability issues were reported by both automated testing tools and the manual user testing team. The access issues reported were found to affect the majority of user groups but most specifically vision and mobility impaired user groups. Where validation errors identified by the automated tools did not directly impact on the testing team, it does not mean they do not have the potential to impact on other users.
Keyboard only users were also unable to track the order in which some page elements receive focus because they were not highlighted by a visible focus indicator. As a result of this some users were unable to complete tasks independently.
Some of the colour combinations found on the site are low contrast and are likely to be difficult for people with low vision to read.
Feedback and contact information
If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact our Helpdesk using the details below.
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, contact our Helpdesk.
Email: [email protected]
Freephone: 08081 434 434
Minicom: 08081 456 472
Alternatively, you can write to us at:
HS2 Community Hub
High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd
Two Snowhill
Snow Hill Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6GA
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in [21] days
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment:
Minicom: 08081 456 472
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
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
High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd 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
The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the exemptions listed below.
Non accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Disproportionate burden
Issues were found where colour was used as the only means of conveying information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1: Use of Colour.
Some links lack a visible focus style. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7: Focus Visible.
When navigating page content using the keyboard, links within visually hidden content receive focus and become visible, but they overlap other text content on the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3: Contrast – minimum.
The text of the News search button has insufficient colour contrast against the adjacent background, and the ‘News’ link in the sidebar navigation has insufficient colour contrast against the adjacent background. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3: Contrast – minimum.
Third-party software
The HS2 Media Centre website has been developed by a third party and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. We do not have direct control of the codebase.
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues and believe that it would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We do not believe that the extra improvements that could be gained from paying for these issues to be fixed would justify the cost. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal in November 2024.
Alternative audio for videos
Our videos do not contain an alternative, descriptive audio track. For example, an audio track describing what’s happening in the video rather than captions of the script. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.2.5 Audio Description (Pre-recorded).
Our videos are hosted on YouTube which does not yet support more than one audio track.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDF’s and other documents
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader.
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.
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.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We test our website annually with the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) to check for areas of improvement or non-compliance. They produce a detailed report for us.
Our website agency has a dedicated accessibility expert who then reviews this report and makes recommendations accordingly.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 12 October 2021. It was last reviewed on 13 March 2024.
This website was last tested on 15 December 2023. The test was carried out by Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC).