Accessible documents policy

This policy explains how accessible the documents Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) 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

TRA publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDFs, ODT and Microsoft Word documents.

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

  • tag headings and other parts of the document properly so screen readers can understand the page structure
  • include alternative text alongside 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 and don’t contain proper headings
  • are not written in plain English
  • contain images and diagrams that do not contain 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 regulations, so we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible. 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 we’ve published, email alternative.formats@education.gov.uk.

We’ll consider the request and reply within 5 working days with an alternative format or to let you know when you can expect to receive it.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email 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.

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 enquiry or complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about the accessibility of our documents

TRA 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 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some of our documents are not yet fully accessible. The accessibility issues, the criteria they fail on and when they’ll be fixed will be provided in the Details section of the GOV.UK page they have been published on by 31 July 2021.

The content is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Success criterion 1.1.1: non-text content

Some of our documents have diagrams or tables. Some of these do not have a text alternative so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

Success criterion 2.4.2: page title

Some of our documents and pages do not have titles that describe the topic or purpose of the page. This is often the case where we have older pages created some time ago. This makes it hard for users to navigate and find the content they need. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (page title).

Some links in our documents do not contain context in the link text. This makes it hard for users using assistive technology to understand what the link is for, and where they would be directed to if clicked. This doesn’t meet the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose (in context)).

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We’re improving accessibility by:

  • working with colleagues across TRA 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 PDF documents to HTML content focusing on our most used content first
  • providing training and guidance to TRA 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 to identify where improvements can be made
  • completing spot checks on recently published documents to ensure they are accessible
  • providing an OpenDocument version of Word and Excel documents, where possible
  • publishing data in CSV files, where possible
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