Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust's website.

This website is run by the Communications team at the trust. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• Increase text size
• Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

My Computer My Way has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible our website is

We have worked hard to make sure our site is accessible to all. This has involved reviewing content, refining the navigation and making technical changes to ensure we are compliant with WCAG 2.1.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the non-accessible content section of this statement.

Accessible Information Standard

We can provide appointment letters and clinical patient information leaflets in other formats. Please let the service know of any communication or information needs you have related to a disability. They will then do their best to meet these needs.

This could include appointment letters in large print, Braille, Easy Read or electronically and/or a British Sign Language interpreter, SSE interpreter, Makaton, Deaf/blind manual interpreter or lip-speaker or speech to text reporter at your appointment. 

Please let us know if you require a hearing loop, extra appointment time, a quiet space to wait and be seen, to be accompanied by a carer/family member or to have any other disability related adjustment. This also applies to carers and parents of patients if they have a disability.

Translating web pages

Our website does not offer a specific translation service, but Google Translate does provide a free, equivalent service:

1. Open a web browser and go to Google Translate. You don't need a Google account to access it, because it's free to all
2. On the right, choose the language you want to see the website in
3. Click Translate.

Please do not use Google Translate to translate information about your treatment or appointments. Speak to a member of our staff and we can arrange for clinical information to be translated for you.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email mtw-tr.commnications@nhs.net. 

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.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. Many are aimed at an internal, clinical audience but are published on the website for ease of access and transparency.

Not all of these documents are fully accessible. We are working on fixing essential documents or replacing them with accessible HTML web pages where possible. Not all documents will be fixed as some predate the regulations or are exempted for other reasons. If you need accessibility adjustments for a document please contact us.

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.

Third party content

Some of the content hosted on our website or linked to by us is created by third parties. We have no control over the accessibility of these documents and encourage third parties we work with to make their documents as accessible as possible. If you need accessibility adjustments for a document that may be controlled by a third party, please contact us.

Video content

We do not plan to add captions to pre-recorded video content published before 23 September 2020. This content is exempt from the regulations. All new video content we produce will have appropriate captions, audio descriptions and transcripts as necessary.

Online maps

Maps from digital mapping services such as Google Maps, and maps made available in formats such as PDF are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations where they are used for non-navigational purposes. However, we will always attempt to provide as much related information as possible in text, such as postcodes and directions.