This accessibility statement applies to Additional Pension Calculator.
This website is run by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). 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 just a keyboard or speech recognition software (Voice Control and Dragon)
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent version of 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, as the user is not informed when their session is about to time out. This will cause the user to have to restart the process.
How to request content in an accessible format
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, you can contact us by:
Email: accessibility@nhsbsa.nhs.uk
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
This email address is only for accessibility queries. It is not for technical queries or IT problems. If you have a query that is not about accessibility, go to the ‘Contact us’ section of this page.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, you can contact us by:
Email: accessibility@nhsbsa.nhs.uk
This email address is only for accessibility queries. It is not for technical queries or IT problems. If you have a query that is not about accessibility, go to the ‘Contact us’ section of this page.
Contact us
For all queries not accessibility related, you can contact us by:
Email: apavcreferrals@nhsbsa.nhs.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).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The NHSBSA 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 2.2 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
The user is not informed when their session is about to time out. This will cause the user to have to restart the process. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.2.6 (Timeouts).
We plan to fix these issues. When we publish new content, we’ll make sure it meets accessibility standards.
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 a PDF with guidance and details on purchasing additional pension. This PDF has some accessibility issues that fail some of our internal tests:
- the heading text 'Member Factsheet' and the document title in the footer lack contrast, which may cause issues for users with visual impairments
- there is no H tag on the 'How we use your information' section, so users cannot jump to this using H-key navigation
- reflow is not working properly on this document, and causes text to spill off to the right side of the page making it unreadable
- there is no alternative text on the logo banner, so screen reader users will not be able to see that this is an official NHSBSA document
- there are no bookmarks in the document, so keyboard users may experience extra effort to navigate this document
- users who rely on Dragon speech recognition software will not be able to open hyperlinks using basic commands, meaning users will have to rely on the mouse-grid to open these links
We plan to either fix these documents 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
We’re committed to making sure this website is compliant to WCAG 2.2 ‘AA’ standard.
Our accessibility compliance statement will be reviewed regularly. Every newly released website will be designed, built, and tested to meet ‘AA’ standards by default.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was originally prepared on 9 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 4 December 2024.
This website was last tested on 3 December 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.
The test was carried out by the NHSBSA test and development teams. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by our website team. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.
We tested all the website screens to meet ‘AA’ WCAG 2.2 standards, using manual and automated tests.
We run each webpage through automated Wave, Lighthouse and Axe accessibility tools then manually test with screen readers (NVDA or VoiceOver) and standards checklists.
We run representative user journey tests through speech recognition software (Dragon or Voice Control).
These checklists contain standards that have been compiled using WCAG, the NHS service manual and the Government Digital Service (GDS) guidance.