This accessibility statement applies to neas.nhs.uk.
This website is run by North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. We have designed the website to be as easy to use and understand for as many people as possible.
This means you should be able to:
- Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- Zoom in up to 400% 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).
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Recite Me
We’ve also invested in an accessibility tool called Recite Me for users with specific communication needs. This gives you access to a range of accessibility features by clicking on the accessibility button next to the search bar.
Once the toolbar has been enabled, you can highlight text for audio descriptions, written and audio translations into various languages, background and text colours adjustment, a reading ruler, a magnifier, to enable plain text and to download text as an MP3.
Click here to access the user guide for more information.
We have tried to make the website as accessible as possible, but we know that some parts are not fully accessible:
- Some PDF and Word documents are not fully accessible
If you need information on the website in a different format, such as accessible PDF or easy read, or in Braille, audio or another language, please contact us on 0191 430 2099 or email publicrelations
We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 7 working days.
If you’re unable to view the map on our ‘Contact us’ page, please call or email us for directions.
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.
If you have any problems accessing the information on our website that’s not listed here, or you think the website doesn’t meet accessibility requirements, please email us at publicrelations
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, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) via https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/.
North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust 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 2.2 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
PDFs and non-HTML documents
Some documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content and 1.3.1 Info and Relationships 3.1.1 and Language of Page and 2.4.2 Page titled and 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).
We will be reviewing PDF documents that are essential for our services and aim to convert these to accessible resource pages by June 2025. Where possible we are replacing any new PDFs or Word documents with HTML pages or an accessible PDF.
If you require a PDF document in an accessible format such as large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please email publicrelations
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and non-HTML documents
Some of our PDFs are essential to providing our services. For example, forms published as Word documents. By the end of 2025, 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. For example, we do not plan to fix past copies of newsletters and archive meeting agendas.
We have examined documents published before 2024 and we’ve assessed the cost of fixing these documents. We believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of any document from this website in a more accessible format, please email publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk to tell us what format you require. It will help us if you let us know what type of assistive technology you use.
We have carried out a disproportionate burden assessment on our trust publication documents, including board papers and annual reports. As an NHS Foundation Trust, we are legally obliged to publish these documents on our trust website.
Scope
As of September 2018, accessibility legislation states that public sector websites must publish content in an accessible format. Board papers and annual reports are currently published on our website as PDFs.
Benefits of creating an accessible version
The benefits of creating an HTML version of these documents would be:
- Fully accessible versions for all users to access
- Documents that are more easily searchable and indexable
Burden
- Each document would require several hours of work to be recreated in a fully accessible version (estimated to take between 2 and 40 hours per document, depending on length and complexity, plus any additional sign-off)
- These documents are all officially published documents and publishing new versions would require detailed checking and a lengthy formal sign-off process
- Most of these documents contain complex elements which are difficult to convert, such as tables, graphs, and diagrams
Other factors
Also, other factors relevant to the decision are that:
- Interest in these documents is low and few people access them. As an NHS Foundation Trust we are obliged to publish them
- To date we have not been asked for accessible versions of any of these documents
- We will always assist with accessible versions should we receive requests for them
- The cost of conversion for existing documents would be in excess of £30,000 with a further £8,000 cost for new documents annually.
Assessment
Having considered the estimated cost involved in creating HTML versions, along with the low amount of page views and downloads these documents receive, we have concluded that the work involved would be a poor use of staff time. This represents a disproportionate burden on the organisation.
Where possible, for newer documents we will continue to create assessable HTML versions, alongside the standard PDF document.
We will also explore further training and the implementation of software solutions in 2025.
If you require any of our website in an accessible format or have any issues with using the website, please contact publicrelations
This statement was prepared on 1 December 2023 and it was reviewed and updated on 24 January 2025.
This website was built and tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, by Frank Design Ltd.