Accessible documents policy

This policy explains how accessible the documents Department for Education (DfE) publishes on GOV.UK are.

This accessibility statement applies to PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document. It doesn’t cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML. The main GOV.UK accessibility statement covers that.

Using our documents

DfE publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDF, Excel, ODS, CSV and Word.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use these documents. For example, when we produce a document we:

  • tag headings and other elements properly so screen readers can understand the page structure
  • include alternative text for images so people who cannot see them understand what they’re communicating
  • 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 (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible. For example, some of them:

  • are not tagged properly and don’t have suitable headings
  • are not written in plain English
  • use colour to indicate meaning
  • contain images and diagrams that do not have alternative text
  • are scanned documents and are not marked up in a way that allows screen reader users to understand them

These types of documents are exempt from the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, 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 cannot use a document in the format in which we’ve published it, email us at alternative.formats@education.gov.uk.

We’ll consider the request and reply within 5 working days, either providing the document in an alternative format or letting you know when you can expect to receive it.

How to report an accessibility problem with one of our documents

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you encounter any problems that are not listed on this page or a document that doesn’t meet accessibility requirements, email us at alternative.formats@education.gov.uk. Let us know the details of the document you were trying to access and why you could not access it.

What to do if you’re not happy with our response

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your enquiry or complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

Technical information about the accessibility of our documents

DfE 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 we publish are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard. There are some non-compliances and exemptions.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some of our documents are not yet fully accessible. The accessibility issue, the criterion on which they fail and when they’ll be fixed is provided in the ‘Details’ section of the GOV.UK page on which they’ve been published.

The content is usually non-accessible for the following reasons.

Success criterion 1.1.1: non-text content

Some of our documents have diagrams that do not have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people with a visual impairment using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

Success criterion 1.3.1: info and relationships

Some of our documents do not identify table or row column headers, do not use nested headings, or contain information that does not display correctly. This means users of screen readers may not be able to understand the structure of the document, which, in turn, may affect their ability to navigate and access the information. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

Success criterion 1.3.2 meaningful sequence

Some of our documents have an incorrect reading order. This is mostly on pages with charts and images. The chart information or alternative text for an image may not be presented immediately after or alongside what it’s describing. This may confuse or disorient screen-reader users if the assistive technology reads the content in the wrong order. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence).

Success criterion 1.3.3: sensory characteristics

Some of our documents use sensory characteristics such as colour, shape or size to convey information. This means users with a visual impairment may not be able to understand the information. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.3 (sensory characteristics).

Success criterion 1.4.1: use of colour

Colour is used to convey meaning in some of our documents – for example, in spreadsheets, to show themes, categories or deadlines. As a result, users with a visual impairment may not be able to understand the meaning the colour is intended to convey. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 (sensory characteristics).

Success criterion 1.4.3: contrast

Some of our documents contain text on a background with a colour contrast ratio of less than 4.5:1. This means some users will find it difficult to read. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)).

Success criterion 1.4.5: images of text

Some of our documents contain images of text rather than plain text. This means people using a text-based web browser or other assistive technology may not be able to understand the text in the image. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.5 (images of text).

Success criterion 1.4.11: non-text contrast

Some of our documents contain images with a poor colour contrast ratio between the object and the background. This doesn’t meet the WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 1.4.11 (non-text contrast)

Success criterion 2.1.1: keyboard

Some of our HTML publications may contain tables that are too wide for the screen. That means hidden information might not be accessible using a keyboard. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard)

Success criterion 2.4.1: bypass blocks

Some of our publications may not be indexed correctly from the list of contents. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks)

Success criterion 2.4.2: page title

Some of our older documents and pages do not have titles that clearly describe the topic or purpose of the content, or have the same title as other documents or pages. This makes it difficult for users to navigate and find the content they need. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (page title).

Some links in our documents do not provide context in the link text. This makes it hard for users of assistive technology to understand where they’d be directed to if they followed it. This doesn’t meet the WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose (in context)).

Success criterion 2.4.6: headings and labels

Some document headings don’t accurately describe the content that follows. Likewise, some interactive buttons don’t describe what the button does. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion 2.4.6 (headings and labels)

How we assess whether an accessibility fix represents a ‘disproportionate burden’

We assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden to fix some older statistics documents with multiple accessibility issues, including:

  • complex tables with merged cells that might be read in the wrong order (WCAG success criterion 1.3.2: meaningful sequence)
  • missing alternative text (WCAG success criterion 1.1.1: non-text content)
  • use of colour to denote meaning (WCAG success criterion 1.4.1: sensory characteristics)
  • headings, lists or data tables not identified correctly (WCAG success criterion 1.3.1: info and relationships)

We assessed that the time and cost of changing all our statistics documents from September 2018 onwards would be a disproportionate burden on our teams.

We assessed the cost to the organisation against the benefit to users to be minimal, taking into consideration the frequency of the documents’ use, previous requests for accessible formats, and the relevance of superseded statistics releases.

Our statistics dissemination platform, Explore Education Statistics (EES), is fully compliant with accessibility legislation. Since May 2020, we publish the majority of our statistical publications on EES and we’ll continue to upload historic publications to it where possible. We ensure that all new statistical releases published on either EES or GOV.UK are accessible.

You can email us at alternative.formats@education.gov.uk for more details.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

The accessibility regulations do not require us to make PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 accessible if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix all of our research reports.

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents published before 23 September 2018 do not meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader.

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we publish PDFs containing information about how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. The majority of these have been either fixed or replaced with HTML.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet the accessibility standards.

How we test our documents

Since November 2019, we check the accessibility of all new and updated documents, making any necessary changes before they’re published. We also perform spot checks on documents to ensure they’re accessible.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We’re improving accessibility by:

  • working with colleagues across DfE to improve awareness and understanding about accessibility and what they need to do to meet the regulations
  • encouraging the use of accessible HTML content to meet the needs of our audience
  • converting existing PDFs to HTML, focusing on our most-used content
  • updating our document templates and ensuring they’re used for any content in non-HTML format (for example, Word, Excel or ODS)
  • providing ongoing training and guidance to GOV.UK publishers on how to check documents are accessible
  • including accessibility as part of our ‘second pair of eyes’ checking process before publishing
  • auditing content published since January 2020 regularly to identify where improvements can be made
  • completing spot checks on recently published documents to ensure they’re accessible
  • providing an OpenDocument version of Word and Excel documents, where possible
  • publishing data in CSV files, where possible

This page was reviewed on 1 May 2024.

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