Accessible documents policy

This policy explains how accessible the documents the Government Equalities Office (GEO) publishes on GOV.UK are.

This policy explains how accessible the documents the Government Equalities Office (GEO) publishes on GOV.UK are. It covers PDFs and other types of document.

It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML, as the main GOV.UK accessibility statement covers that.

Using our documents

We publish documents in a range of formats, including:

  • HTML
  • PDF
  • CSV

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

  • provide an HTML option
  • 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 can understand why they are there
  • avoid using tables, except to show data
  • write in plain English

How accessible our documents are

New documents we publish should be fully accessible.

However, we know that some of our older documents are not accessible.

For example, guidance like Help and support for returning to work and research reports like Gender equality at work: research on the barriers to women’s progression are published as PDFs and may not be not tagged properly for users of screen readers.

We have a plan to make documents like these accessible.

We will:

  • create HTML versions of any documents that were originally published as PDFs
  • improve the accessibility of PDFs

What to do if you cannot use one of our documents

If you need a document in a different format, email accessible.formats@cabinetoffice.gov.uk or write to:

Equality Hub
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

We will consider the request and get back to you within 15 days.

Reporting accessibility problems

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we may not be meeting accessibility requirements, contact accessible.formats@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’).

If you are 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 GEO is committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the accessibility guidelines.

Any new documents we publish will meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We will continue to work on older documents to make them compliant with these guidelines.

Content outside 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.

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

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to make our documents accessible. We will continue to publish documents as HTML pages wherever possible, and we will test any PDFs for accessibility before we publish them.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us.

This statement was last updated on 14 September 2021.

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