This accessibility statement applies to NHS Bursary.
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:
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there is a broken ARIA reference which could cause elements to not be read out correctly by screen-readers
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some error summary links do not correctly place focus on the field
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when the user triggers a field error, they are sometimes presented with error text that does not correctly describe the issue
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the user is not informed when they are about to be timed out due to inactivity, this could cause them to need to enter the same information more than once
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some field character counts are not read out by a screen reader so the user may not know if they have hit the field character limit
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some page titles are duplicated or inaccurate, which may confuse users
How to request content in an accessible format
If you need information on this website in a different format such as 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:
Online: using our online form
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
There is a broken ARIA reference which could cause screen readers to incorrectly read out elements. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
Some error summary links do not correctly place focus on the field. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.3.1 (Error Identification) and 3.3.3 (Error Suggestion).
When the user triggers a field error, they are sometimes presented with error text that does not correctly describe the issue. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.3.3 (Error Suggestion).
The user is not informed when they are about to be timed out due to inactivity, this could cause them to need to enter the same information more than once. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.6 (Timeouts).
Some field character counts are not read out by a screen reader so the user may not know if they have hit the field character limit. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion. 4.1.3 (Status Messages).
Some page titles are duplicated or inaccurate, which may cause confusion for users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).
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 PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
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.
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 15 March 2022. It was last reviewed on 21 June 2024.
This website was last tested on 12 June 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.