Accessibility statement

Accessibility matters

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
• 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 also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• some of our PDF documents are not accessible to screen reader software
• we still have some Word documents on the website – these are being converted to HTML, PDF or open (ODT) documents
• the heading structure is incorrect
• form inputs lack text labels
• links lack additional styling apart from colour
• images of text are used
• multiple instances of identical link text

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the HRA communications team by emailing: communications@hra.nhs.uk

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

• email communications@hra.nhs.uk
• call 0207 104 8333

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Health Research Authority 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 2.2 AA standard. The non-compliances are listed below.

Non accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Form input fields lack an associated text label or descriptive title. Incorrectly associated labels do not provide sufficient information about the purpose or functionality of the form controls to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Appropriate alternative text is not provided for all non-decorative images. This may result in important information conveyed by the images being unavailable to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Decorative imagery contains inappropriate alternative text attributes. This may result in decorative content being unnecessarily announced by screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

On the ‘Our Board Members’ page, each linked image has been given alternative text that duplicates the link name. This may result in screen reader users receiving duplicate information when navigating to the linked images. WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Complex images, such as infographics and pie charts, have incorrect alternative text or do not have an appropriate alternative provided within the page. This may result in important information conveyed by the images being unavailable to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Form buttons do not have descriptive accessible names. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to understand the purpose and functionality of the controls. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

The mobile menu for the main navigation does not have an accessible name. This may make it difficult for screen reader users to identify the purpose and functionality of the menu. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

The video ‘Respect at the HRA’ on the ‘HRA Community Ways of Working’ webpage does not provide appropriate captions. This may prevent users who are deaf or hard of hearing from accessing the audio content of the video. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.2 (caption (pre-recorded)).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

The video ‘Respect at the HRA’ on the ‘HRA Community Ways of Working’ webpage does not provide a text transcript or audio description. This may prevent users with visual or hearing impairments from accessing information conveyed through the video. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.3 (audio description or media alternative).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

On the ‘HRA Community Ways of Working’ webpage, the video ‘Respect at the HRA’ does not provide an alternative audio track containing an audio description. This may prevent users with visual impairments from accessing information conveyed visually within the video. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.5 (audio description (pre-recorded).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Regions of the pages are not identified using appropriate or unique landmarks. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies who navigate using landmarks to identify and navigate different regions of the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Related form elements are not appropriately grouped, or are grouped incorrectly. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to understand the relationship between related form controls. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Related links within the footer are not contained within a element. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to identify and navigate the footer content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Semantic markup is not used appropriately for bold text and list items. This may result in the structure and meaning of the content not being conveyed correctly to users of assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Several variations in text are not conveyed through semantic markup. Visual headings are not identified as headings in the semantic markup. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to understand the structure of the content and navigate the page efficiently. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Instructions within pages rely on shape, size or visual location. This may make it difficult for users with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities to understand and follow the instructions. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.3 (sensory characteristics).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 December 2027

For some input fields, such as ‘First Name’, ‘Last Name’, ‘Email’ and ‘Phone’, an appropriate autocomplete attribute is not provided. This may prevent assistive technologies from identifying the purpose of these form fields and make it more difficult for users to enter their information efficiently. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.5 (identify input purpose).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Links lack additional visual styling and rely solely on colour to distinguish them from surrounding text on several pages. This may make it difficult for users with visual impairments to identify links. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 (use of colour).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Some text and link colours do not have sufficient colour contrast against their backgrounds. This may make it difficult for users with visual impairments to read the text or identify links. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Images of text are present on the ‘Our Strategy’ webpage. This may prevent users from accessing the text using their preferred text presentation or assistive technology. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.5 (images of text).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

Zooming the page to 400% with a browser width of 1280px results in content being cut-off, obscured, or a two-dimensional scroll is required to view all content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.10 (reflow).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 March 2027

The boundaries of several checkboxes have a colour contrast ratio of 2.6:1 instead of the required 3:1. This may make it difficult for users with visual impairments to identify the checkbox boundaries. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 (non-text contrast).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

There is insufficient colour contrast between the foreground and background of graphical objects. This may make it difficult for users with visual impairments to distinguish the graphical objects from their background. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 (non-text contrast).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

Rendering issues occur when custom CSS text styling is applied. This may result in content becoming inaccessible to users who require increased spacing between lines, words and letters. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.12 (text spacing).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

The ‘Skip to Main Content’ link incorrectly focuses on the breadcrumbs instead of allowing keyboard and assistive technology users to bypass repeated navigational components across the site. This may make it difficult for users to quickly access the main content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

A correctly formed heading structure is not present to facilitate navigation across the site, with skipped heading levels present. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to understand the structure of the content and navigate the site efficiently. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

The tab order is not logical when navigating with a mobile screen reader. Several elements are difficult to reach and require multiple, lengthy sequences of tabbing. This may make it difficult for users of mobile screen readers to navigate the content efficiently. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 (focus order).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

On the ‘Our Strategy’ page, there are multiple instances of the link text ‘Long Description’, with each link directing users to a different page. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to distinguish between the links and understand their different destinations. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose (in context)).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

Multiple ambiguous link texts are present. The purpose or destination of these links cannot be identified from the link text alone. This may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to understand and navigate to the linked content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose (in context)).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

A visible focus indicator is not present when navigating using the keyboard. Several page elements do not provide a visible indication when they receive focus. This may make it difficult for keyboard only users to identify which element currently has focus. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

On the 'News and updates' page, when using a laptop, the keyboard focus is not visible on links. This may make it difficult for keyboard-only users to locate what elements they are able to interact with and where they are located within the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 October 2026

Content is obscured on the homepage by the banner when it receives keyboard focus. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.11 (focus not obscured).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

Several dropdowns and checkboxes have accessible labels that do not match the corresponding visible labels. This may make it difficult for users of speech recognition software to identify and interact with these form controls. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 (label in name).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

Users of speech recognition software, such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking, cannot access checkboxes using known voice commands. This may prevent users who rely on speech recognition software from accessing and interacting with these form controls. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

When navigating with a screen reader the acronym ‘HRA’ is announced as a word rather than as individual letters. Additionally, on the ‘Submit Your Final Report’ page, when users navigate to the radio buttons, an error message is announced that is not visible on screen. This may result in users of screen readers receiving unclear or misleading information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

On the ‘HRA Community Ways of Working’ page, the media player element uses ARIA attributes that are not permitted for the element. This may result in the media player being incorrectly interpreted or announced by assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

The main navigation is not accessible to iOS VoiceOver users. This may prevent users of iOS VoiceOver from accessing and navigating the main areas of the website. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

Users are not informed of all additional content when navigating with a screen reader. This may result in screen reader users being unaware of important information or functionality that becomes available. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.3 (status messages).

We plan to resolve this by: 31 May 2027

Documents on the website

Some of our PDF and Word documents published before September 2018 are not currently accessible - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 – principle 2: operable.

We’ve updated content that is essential to accessing our services and when we publish new content, we’ll make sure we use HTML for 15 pages and under, or add an accessible PDF where content is longer than 15 pages, for example the Standard Operating Procedures for Research Ethics Committees.

If you are having trouble with any of our documents due to accessibility, please contact communications@hra.nhs.uk.

Documents produced by other organisations

Some of our forms and guideline documents are produced by EU or UK partners. This currently fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We will update these to accessible documents as accessible versions become available from partners.

Disproportionate burden

Our CAG registers are not accessible. This currently fails WCAG 2.2 Principle 2: Operable. We’ve assessed the cost of making these registers accessible. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We are assessing and reviewing what format these registers need to take as we develop our new digital platform. The aim is to redevelop the registers in an accessible format when they go on the new platform which is replacing IRAS.

If you require help accessing information from the CAG register, please contact communications@hra.nhs.uk.

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

Older PDFs and other documents

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 boards papers from before this date.

Any new PDFs we publish for guidance and reports will meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 01/09/2026. It was last reviewed on 21/09/2026.

This website was last tested on 28/08/2026. The test was carried out by Zoonou.

Zoonou used WCAG-EM to define the pages tested and test approach.