Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for NPSA Public Website

This accessibility statement applies to: https://www.npsa.gov.uk/

This website is run by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA). 

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 (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:

• Images may not always have an appropriate alternative attribute
• Not all elements of the page can be accessed using a keyboard
• The focus order of content is not always logical when navigating with a keyboard
• Some content may be announced incorrectly when focused by a screen reader
• Some content may overlap or become truncated when zooming page content
• Some PDF and Word documents may not have text alternatives within them
• Our feedback widget is not accessible via a screen reader or keyboard

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact us via our enquiries form and select Accessibility as the topic.

We will consider your request and get back in 10 days. 

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, please contact us via our enquiries form and select Accessibility as the topic.

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 National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) 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

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content).

Some decorative images have an alternative attribute when a null alternative is expected. This may mean that some screen readers focus on decorative images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content). 

Some adjacently linked images are not combined with the link text. This will cause screen readers to announce the same content twice in a row. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content). 

Some images within Word documents and PDF documents lack a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content).  

The buttons within the navigational header do not contain an accessible name, which may result in a screen reader announcing the button with no context. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content). 

Where the <area> element is used, it lacks a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content).  

Some embedded multimedia elements lack an accessible name, identifying the context of the media player. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content).  

Some videos on the website may not have synchronised captions that can be enabled. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (Captions).  

Some videos on the website may lack a text-based transcript to accompany the video. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-Recorded)).  

Videos on the website lack a separate audio description track describing the contents of the video. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.5 (Audio Description (Pre-Recorded)).  

Not all rows and headers within tables are correctly marked up. This may cause some information to be lost when focusing on data tables with a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some pages contain headings within a heading, this may cause unexpected behaviour when navigating using headings with a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Across some pages, it was found that ARIA attributes referred to an ID that was not present within the document. This may result in some content not being announced correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some PDF documents are not tagged, which may result in the content being inaccessible to screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

In places on the website, JavaScript is used to emulate link. These links may not be focusable by a screen reader, or not announce as a link when focused. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some use of ARIA is inappropriate which may result in some content announcing incorrectly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some page regions are not identified using ARIA landmarks. This may result in some sections of the page not being able to be focused by a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some pages may contain empty headings, these headings may be focusable by screen readers and contain no content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some related groups of links are not grouped together using the <nav> element. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).  

Some Word documents contain non-inline graphics or objects that do not have a text alternative, so screen readers can’t access this information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence).  

Not all links on the page contain additional styling to identify them as links. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour). 

Across certain sections of text, contrast does not meet the minimum requirements of 4.5:1. This affects elements such as placeholder text within form fields, and coloured text on coloured backgrounds. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).  

When zooming text only, some content become truncated and inaccessible. This includes the navigation menu, as well as sections of content on selected pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text).  

Some content may be implemented as images of text, which may be inaccessible to some users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of Text).  

Some content will overlap when zooming the page content to 400% and not reflow correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).  

Some user interface components or graphical objects, such as ‘Play video’ buttons, do not meet the minimum contrast ratio of 3:1. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-Text Contrast).  

When applying custom CSS to the page, some content becomes inaccessible. This includes the dropdown menus within the navigation menu, as well as selected pieces of content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.12 (Text Spacing).  

Some pages may contain an animation that lacks the ability to pause, stop, or hide the content on the page. Some users may find this content distracting. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide).  

Some PDF documents may lack an appropriate title identifying the content of the PDF to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).  

Some links may have the same name but navigate the user to a different page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).  

Some links lack an accessible name that will result in the link being announced instead of link text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).  

Some headings and labels are not representative of the content present, which may be confusing for some screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).  

A visual tab focus indicator is not always present for each focusable element. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible). 

Some PDF documents may not have defined the language of the file. This may result in some content being pronounced incorrectly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).  

Some form fields lack an error message that informs the user of which field is currently in error. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (Error Identification).   

Not all elements are able to be interacted with using Dragon Naturally Speaking. The checkboxes on the search results page and drop downs within interactive maps are unable to be interacted with. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).  

Users of screen readers are unable to select the checkbox present on the ‘General enquires’ page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).  

Some pages may contain nested interactive controls which may be inaccessible to users navigating with a keyboard or screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).  

Some PDF documents do not contain XMP metadata, which may result in some context being lost for users who rely on screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). 

Our feedback widget is not accessible via a screen reader or keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1. This will be on the website until July 26th. If you would like to provide feedback for our website, you can do so by visiting the survey page.

Please refer to our roadmap for when these issues will be fixed.

Third-party accessibility tools

We have integrated the AccessiBe widget to help improve the user experience of our website. We are aware that when certain settings are activated, it may unintentionally reduce the accessibility of our website. We recommend using AccessiBe with caution, and adjust the settings as needed to ensure an optimal experience. 

Disproportionate burden

PDFs

NPSA's websites contain approximately 2,000 PDF documents.

We are going through an extensive review of all published content, including PDFs As part of that process, we will, wherever possible, create HTML pages to either exist alongside or replace the PDF documents; and ensure those PDFs that remain meet current guidelines. Wherever we are able to remove PDF versions of our guidance, we will.

We estimate that this process will take around 2 years to complete.

All PDFs uploaded onto our site from April 2023 meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

If you require a particular piece of guidance in a more accessible format, please contact us via our enquiries form selecting Accessibility as the topic.

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag. 

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website.

We are aware that the following tools are not accessible: 

Data Centre Security risk animation
We have assessed the cost of fixing this animation, but we believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden, as we provide the content in an accessible format.

Protecting your assets tool
We are unable to fix this tool due to the way it has been built. We therefore will be retiring it in 2026. 

Passport to Good Security
We are aware that the functionality at the bottom of this section of the website isn’t accessible. We have assessed the cost of fixing the issues associated with it, and believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden. We are planning to create this content in the form of a HTML webpage by 2026. 

Supply Chain Guidance tool 
We have assessed the cost of fixing this animation, but we believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden, as we provide the content in an accessible format.

Security Minded Approach game
We are unable to fix this tool due to the way it has been built. We therefore will be retiring it from the website in 2025. 

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. 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.

See the above section "PDFs" under Disproportionate Burden for an outline of how we plan to tackle this issue.

Live video

NPSA do not run live video streams.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

In line with the new requirements to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines from October 2024, we will be undergoing another site audit in September 2024.

This statement and our roadmap will be updated to reflect the outcomes and our new plan to address failings.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 06/06/2023. It was last reviewed on 18/07/2024. It was last updated on the 31/07/2024.

This website was last tested on 12/04/2023. The test was carried out by Zoonou.

The testers used a representative sample of the websites as defined by the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM).

The next test is due in September 2024.