Accessible documents policy
This policy covers the accessibility of documents provided by the Food Standards Agency.
This policy explains how accessible the documents the Food Standards Agency (FSA) 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 FSA publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDF and Word documents. 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
- 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 not tagged up properly - for example, they do not contain proper headings
- are not written in plain English
This mostly applies to our transparency 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: fsa.communications@food.gov.uk
Phone our Helpline: 0330 332 7149 (open 9.00 until 17.00, Monday to Friday)
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, contact:
Email: fsa.communications@food.gov.uk
Phone our Helpline: 0330 332 7149 (open 9.00 until 17.00, Monday to Friday)
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).
If you are in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland who are responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland.
Technical information about the accessibility of our documents
The Food Standards Agency 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 Food Standards Agency publishes are fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.
Disproportionate burden
We have not made any disproportionate burden claims.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
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 Food Standards Agency Westminster annual report and accounts 2012 to 2013. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
How we tested our documents
We last tested a sample of our documents on 4 September 2020. This test was carried out by staff in the organisation. We use the Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA to test how accessible content is.
We tested PDF documents. We decided to test this type of document as, aside from HTML, this is the most commonly used document format the Food Standards Agency publishes online.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
The Food Standards Agency is committed to:
- updating older documents to be accessible
- making sure new documents are accessible before they are published
- publishing documents in HTML where possible, rather than PDF
- training staff to make sure they are aware of the importance of accessibility, and how to make their documents accessible
This page was prepared on 1 October 2020.