Accessible documents policy
How the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) ensures published documents are accessible.
Accessible documents policy
This page explains how accessible our published documents on GOV.UK are. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of documents. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement covers that.
We publish documents in a range of formats including PDF, MS Word and Excel and OpenDocument format.
We aim for our documents to be as accessible as possible. When we produce a document, we:
- provide an HTML option wherever possible
- tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure
- make sure we include alt-text and descriptions of non-decorative images, so visually impaired people can understand what they’re there for
- avoid using tables, except when 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 (mainly PDFs) published before 23 September 2018 may not be accessible.
For example, older documents may:
- be scans or photocopies that aren’t compatible with screen readers
- be tagged incorrectly - for example, without proper headings
- not offer alternative text descriptions for images and diagrams
- not be written in plain English
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 can’t use one of our documents
If you need a document we’ve published in a different format:
Email: digital@trade.gov.uk
Alternative format requests:
Digital Communities and Channels Team
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
United Kingdom
London
SW1H 0ET
We’ll aim to get back to you within 15 working days.
Reporting accessibility issues with one of our documents
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any issues not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email: digital@trade.gov.uk
In England, Wales and Scotland, 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).
In Northern Ireland, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland 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 Commission for Northern Ireland.
Technical accessibility information
We are committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
The documents we publish 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 in this section is non-compliant with the accessibility regulations for the following reasons:
- some of our PDF and MS Word documents include images without a text alternative. This means that the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This content does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all relevant images. When we publish new documents, we make sure all images meet accessibility standards
- some of our PDFs contain complex tables with merged cells, which can make it hard for people using a screen reader to determine the correct reading order. This content does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships). Where possible we will try to simplify the tables or make sure they are tagged properly for screen readers
- some of our MS Excel spreadsheets may not be clearly structured with labelled tables, and labelled headings. Column headings may also be blank and workbooks tabs may not have a clear title. This content does not meet success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships). We will make sure all new spreadsheets have an appropriate structure
- a few of the documents we publish are produced by third parties. We’re not always able to make these fully compliant, for example by adding the appropriate heading structure or alternative text for images. This content does not meet success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings) or success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We have informed third parties of our accessibility requirements but sometimes we have to publish documents at short notice that aren’t fully accessible. Where possible, we try to fix these as soon as we can
Disproportionate burden
14 files fail to meet several WCAG 2.1 AA criteria as parts of the files cannot be used by assistive technologies. These are:
- Strategic export controls: licensing statistics, 1 October to 31 December 2008
- The impact of publicly funded export promotion services
- Review comparing trade promotion organisations – phase 1
- Review comparing trade promotion organisations – phase 2
- Using export promotion to address barriers of exporting businesses
- Evaluating export promotion activities using econometrics
- Exploring how businesses use export promotion services
- Descriptive analysis of DIT supported large businesses
- Methods to estimate the economic impact of large exporters
- Assessing trends and drivers of industrial demand
- Exporting behaviour of medium-sized businesses
- Valuing the impact of the World Trade Organization
- Research on the relationship between exchange rates and trade
These files would require a disproportionate amount of resources to publish in an accessible format when their complexity and length are weighed against how often they are downloaded. If you would like to access any of these files and are unable to, please contact us by emailing digital@trade.gov.uk.
There are thousands of historic PDF documents on our website. We have reviewed and prioritised our documents. We aim to fix those that are most used and are essential to providing our services.
Most of these documents are of historic interest only and we do not intend to make them accessible. If you want a document in an accessible format, email digital@trade.gov.uk, and we will try and help.
Statistics
Some of our statistical outputs are not fully accessible.
We’ve assessed the impact of making all statistics published between 23 September 2018 and 23 September 2020 fully accessible see our assessment. We believe that making these documents accessible would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) and Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the “accessibility regulations”).
Some statistical outputs published after 23 September 2020 may not be fully accessible but for the large majority of our statistical series, the most recent publication includes accessible versions. We are working on the remaining series to ensure new releases include accessible versions.
In line with the accessibility regulations, we will provide a specific statistical publication in a different format if requested.
Content that is not within the scope of accessibility regulations
Many of our older PDFs and other file attachments do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured to be accessible on a screen reader. This content does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.
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. However, requests can be made to make specific content accessible for those who need it.
Any new PDFs we publish will meet accessibility standards, although our aim will always be to publish primarily in HTML.
How we test our documents
Our staff tested documents published between 23 September 2018 and 2 January 2020. We tested these documents based on how often people look at them and whether they are essential to providing our services.
We tested:
- PDFs
- Word documents
- Excel documents
- PowerPoint presentations
- open documents
47 PDFs were found to be inaccessible, 46 have since been either taken down, converted to HTML or had problematic elements such as tables offered in an alternative format. The other PDF is listed above under ‘disproportionate burden’.
The sample of other attachments tested (.xls, .doc, .odt) did not present accessibility problems.
How we’re improving accessibility
We have produced templates and guidance to make sure that all new documents that we produce are accessible. We are working with our research and statistics teams to help them create accessible documents.
We have changed the terms and conditions for the designers that do business with us to specify that they must supply accessible documents.
We are reviewing and editing older documents to add features to make them more accessible to people using screen readers.
We are going to ensure all future documents are published in accessible formats.
We are also going to work to improve the readability of our content to better meet the WCAG 2.1 AA ‘understandable’ criteria.
This page was last updated on Friday 12 May 2023.