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Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/. This website is run by the Privy Council Office. 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 aren’t fully accessible:

  • Some PDF documents created before 2019 aren’t yet accessible to screen reader software, and we are working to rectify this by 31 March 2023. If you require a document before this time that isn’t accessible to a screen reader, please contacft us and we will provide a copy.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us.

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 Privy Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Disproportionate burden

Some PDF documents created before 2019 aren’t accessible to screen reader software. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

We’ve assessed the cost of converting these documents to accessible PDFs. We believe that converting all of the documents immediately would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations, so we have put a plan in place to ensure these documents are made accessible over a period of time.

All non-compliant PDF documents will be replaced with an accessible version before the end of 2023. We will work in a chronological Order, starting with the most recent documents.

However should any users require an accessible version of any one of these documents please contact us and this can be arranged.

All PDF documents published from 2019 meet accessibility standards.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 23 February 2021. The test was carried out by the Cabinet Office Digital Communications team.

The approach we took was to test every non-standard page (namely the homepage and all pages containing forms or tables) and then a random sample of 2 further pages from each section.

We tested:

  • our main website platform, available at privycouncil.independent.gov.uk

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are ensuring that all new PDFs pass an independent accessibility test before publication.

All site editors and developers working on this site receive full accessibility training before working on the site.

This statement was prepared on 8 August 2019. It was last updated on 12th October 2022.