Accessibility
This page explains how we have tried to make this website accessible to all users and how we plan to increase accessibility in the future.
Our website is built to meet W3C A standards for accessibility. This involves using clear labelling so users know where a link or button is taking them and the type and size of documents they are downloading. We have also used a clear design that takes account of people with visual impairments.
We've attempted to use Plain English throughout the site to increase accessibility.
PDF files
Our Care Quality Commission reports are currently only available as PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Find out more about PDF files and how to access them.
To view any Portable Document Format (PDF) you need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is freely available if you do not already have a copy on your computer (see link below).
Clicking on a PDF link will open the file in your browser window, where you can view or print the file. If you click the PDF link with the right mouse button you will be given various options, one of which is to 'Save Target As....', if you select this option you can save the PDF file to your computer hard drive, and view the file whenever you wish.
Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader (opens new window)
Searching within a PDF
When you open a PDF file, a toolbar will appear (below the address bar if opened in a browser window), featuring a number of tools to help you view and search the document. Moving your mouse/cursor over the icons (without clicking) will tell you what each of them does. Especially useful is the 'Find' tool (a pair of binoculars) - click on the 'Find' icon to search the document for a word or phrase. Click the next icon to the right to search for further occurences of the word or phrase.
Accessibility of PDFs
Many of our reports are currently only available as PDFs. We know that this is a problem for people using screen readers and as the site develops we will include online summaries of our reports.
Adobe do provide information about accessibility and adobe products, and Acrobat Reader 6 has a number of accessibility features.
Adobe accessibility information (opens new window)
Adobe Acrobat support (opens new window)
If you are still having problems accessing a PDF file, please contact us and we will try to provide the document in a more suitable format for you.
Text size
You can increase the size of the text on our web pages by reconfiguring your web browser, as follows: Select 'View' in your browser menu, then 'select text size/larger' or 'increase font'.
Colour
We do not use colour to convey vital information.
Images
All relevant images have text descriptions explaining what the image is about. This description will be read out by screen readers, and will be displayed if you hover your cursor over the image.
Navigating without a mouse
- You may use the 'arrow' keys to scroll up and down a page.
- You may also use the 'tab' key to move from one link to the next, in sequence, then press the 'return' or 'enter' key to select a link.
- You may use the 'backspace' key to go back to the previous page.
