Accessible documents policy
Accessible Documents at the Central Arbitration Committee
This policy explains how accessible the documents the Central Arbitration Committee publishes on GOV.UK are. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement will cover that.
Using our documents
The Central Arbitration Committee publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDFs and MS Word.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:
• provide an HTML option where possible
• tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure
• make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they’re there for
• avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data
• write in plain English
How accessible our documents are
New documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be fully accessible.
However, we know that some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible.
For example, some of them:
• are PDFs that are not marked up in a way that allows screen reader users to understand them
• are not tagged up properly - for example, they do not contain proper headings
• are not written in plain English
This mostly applies to our outcome for decisions and the Annual Reports documents. These types of documents are exempt from the regulations, so we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible.
But if you need to access information in one of these document types, you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.
What to do if you cannot use one of our documents
If you need a document we’ve published in a different format:
Email enquiries@cac.gov.uk
Alternative Document Format Request
Central Arbitration Committee
PO Box 78137
London
SW1P 9XE
Telephone - 0330 109 3610
We’ll consider the request and get back to you in 10 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email enquries@cac.gov.uk providing details on the issues being reported.
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 the accessibility of our documents
The Central Arbitration Committee is committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
The documents the Central Arbitration Committee publishes are 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.
Non compliance with the accessibility regulations
Some of the headings and labels used to describe a topic or purpose does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6[headings and labels]. We are working to address this.
Disproportionate burden
There are hundreds of historic PDF documents on our website. We have reviewed and prioritised our documents. The vast majority of the documents are of historic interest only and we do not intend to make them accessible. If you want a particular document in an accessible format email enquiries@cac.gov.uk, and we will see if we can help.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Many of our older PDFs don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured in a format that makes them inaccessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings). These are not essential to providing our services.
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 the Annual Reports or case decisions prior to this date.
Any new PDFs or MS Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
How we tested our documents
We last tested a sample of our documents on 5 October 2020. The test was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre.
We tested:
• MS Word documents
These were tested based on how often these are looked at, requested and whether they are essential to providing our services.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
The Central Arbitration Committee has changed its PDF documents to HTML to make them more accessible.
We aim to make the MS Word documents accessible if they do not meet the requirements.
This page was prepared on 21 September 2020. It was last updated on 22 October 2020.