Date Version Changes

22/08/23 3.5 A.6.5 - Mobile devices that have not authenticated and/or synced data within a suitable time frame will be asked to re-authenticate and will be logged out. The NIHR IS Function Team reserves the right to adjust the period in which a device will be logged out and asked to re-authenticated.

A.8.4 - The NIHR IS Function reserves the right to implement a Data Loss Prevention Solution in order to safeguard the information of the NIHR and prevent end users from leaking sensitive data outside our network. This solution may track when data is shared and accessed, in order to protect and classify data, utilise context aware access and restrict access to data/services.

20/02/23 3.4 A.6.5 - Mobile devices that have not authenticated and/or synced data within a suitable time frame will be asked to re-authenticate and will be logged out. The NIHR IS Function Team reserves the right to adjust the period in which a device will be logged out and asked to re-authenticated.

A.8.4 - The NIHR IS Function reserves the right to implement a Data Loss Prevention Solution in order to safeguard the information of the NIHR and prevent end users from leaking sensitive data outside our network. This solution may track when data is shared and accessed, in order to protect and classify data, utilise context aware access and restrict access to data/services.

How do I complete the below accessibility statement? 

You should complete this statement by following the instructions provided in red text which need to be deleted prior to your statement going live. Further guidance for checking accessibility is provided in the FAQ tab at the top of this page. [ ACCESS STATEMENT SHOULD BE SAME FORMAT AS OUTLINED BELOW, OTEHRWISE REPLACE]. [SHOULD ALSO CONTAIN TABLE OF CONT, EXPLAIN HOW]  If this is the case, there are a couple of minor changes to be made which can be actioned by completing the below steps. If you're applying this statement for the first time, please follow the instructions in the red text within the accessibility statement template. 

1. You must replace your old statement with this updated statement (they are similar but some sections have been amended for legality and subheadings changed) 

2. Compliance status: the bullet point you select should be the same as determined by your WAVE results from the previous accessibility statement

3. Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations: Please delete the pre-populated list of issues with Google Sites. This has now been moved to the section named 'disproportionate burden' so can be removed from this section. You only need to include issues that WAVE detected with your site previously along with a plan for remedial action. If you had any other issues which were not detected by WAVE, please consult point 5.

4. Disproportionate burden: this mandatory section must be inserted as it is in this statement and includes information about the existing accessibility issues around Google Sites. Please ensure that when you copy this section, the hyperlinks are copied with it.  This list of existing accessibility issues with Google Sites should be deleted from the previous 'non-compliance with the accessibility regulations' section if you've not done so already, as they are now included in this mandatory section for you. 

5. Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations: any accessibility issues which are not related to WCAG (or discovered by WAVE) need to go here.  Equally, if your site uses any documentation, whether linked or embedded, which is not accessible, this must be specified here. For example, this may be owned by another organisation and be beyond your control. If you use PDFs or Word documents, you may use the wording provided.

6. Complete the remainder of sections as you normally would. 

7. Complete the Google Form to notify the Service Desk you've completed this task. 

_Please edit/delete the red text in this statement as appropriate. Please leave all black text as this is mandatory for an accessibility statement. Please delete any BOLD red text. Please change the non-bold red text to black once complete._

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

NIHR is committed to making its websites and mobile applications accessible, in accordance with national legislation transposing Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council and in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to _insert your Google Site name here_

Compliance status

_Please delete one of the two statements below based on the compliance of your site_

• This website is partially compliant with WCAG 2.0/2.1AA, due to the non-compliance/exemptions listed below.

• This website is not compliant with WCAG 2.0/2.1AA. The [non-compliance(s)] [and/or] [the exemptions] are listed below.

_It is worth noting Google Sites are not fully WCAG 2.0/2.1 AA compliant due to the reasons specified under disproportionate burden_

Non-accessible content

The content listed in the below sections is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

_If WAVE detected any accessibility issues, they need to be specified here. It is also key that a plan for when you will fix this is also provided. Please also note, there should not be a list of accessibility issues with Google Sites in this section as these have been moved to the disproportionate burden section. So please don't copy the list of Google Sites issues, they can be deleted. Full instructions are below:

If your site is fully within the accessibility regulations, then please state ‘Apart from the exemptions listed below, this site is fully compliant with the accessibility regulations’. This will be the case for most sites on the basis of the compliance work done in September 2020. 

If you do have any remaining non-compliances you need to state them here and your plan for fixing them 

e.g.

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by <date>. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Please add any further non-compliant aspects to your Google Site here as appropriate.

• In this subsection, please list:

  • The problem and which of the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria the problem fails on (stated on WAVE)

  • When you plan to fix the problem

Disproportionate burden

The breakdown of the existing Google Sites accessibility issues summarises the existing accessibility issues with Google Sites. Fixing for these accessibility issues is the responsibility of Google as providers of the Google Sites product. Therefore, fixes for these issues are beyond NIHR control. The only resolution to fixing these issues ourselves is to change website hosts to another supplier. We’ve assessed the cost of fixing these issues and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We continue to work with Google in providing feedback and collaborating to ensure Google’s products are as accessible as possible. 

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

The following non-accessible section(s)/content/function(s) is/are out of scope of the applicable legislation 

• Please add any non-compliant aspects to your Google Site here which cannot be resolved, and the reason they are out of scope for

• If your site includes the use of PDFs and other documents that have been made accessible, please keep this section but state that this is the case.  i.e. ‘This website contains PDFs and Word documents that are essential to providing our service. These have been checked and fixed for accessibility'. If your site uses non-accessible documentation, please consult the paragraph below.

• If your site does not use PDFs or other documents and has no non-compliant aspects which cannot be resolved, please keep this section but state that this is the case.  i.e. ‘There is no content on this site that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations’ 

_PDFs and other documents - please keep the below section in non-bold only if appropriate . This section must be used when the website includes documents e.g. PDFs, Word documents. This includes linked and embedded documents within your control. If you do not control the documents (i.e. they are owned externally to the NIHR) within your site and therefore cannot fix these for accessibility, you must mention that issue here. The NIHR recommends that you use Word documents instead of PDFs as they are considered more accessible. This is because they can be opened across a variety of platforms (i.e. not just PDF readers), can be exported to many accessible file types (such as .odt files as well as HTML) and have more in-depth accessibility checkers.

Example statements you may use in this section depending on your content:

• Some of the documents and/or embedded content (e.g. AwesomeTables content) that we link to for additional information are outside our control and may not be fully accessible. 

• Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By March 2024, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

• 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.

• Our site contains documentation such as PDFs or Word files and these have been checked for accessibility. 

• Our site contains embedded material which is provided through AwesomeTables. Although the accessibility of this content is beyond our control, we've done our best to ensure it's as accessible as possible. If you require this information in a different format, please do contact us via our details below and we'll action your request. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on [date when it was first published using this template]. It was last reviewed on [date when it was last reviewed, which will be the same as the publication date when you adopt this template].

This website was last tested on [date which is likely to be May 2023]. The test was conducted by the NIHR.

We used a third-party accessibility tool called WAVE to test the accessibility of this website. WAVE can identify many accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors, but also facilitates human evaluation of web content. A full explanation of how this tool works can be found on WAVE’s website. If you used another tool that wasn't WAVE, this paragraph can be edited as you wish so long as it describes/ links to how the tool works.

Feedback and contact information

If you wish to report any accessibility challenges in using this website, or if you require any information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact:

_email [email address of a Google Group or Generic Account relating to this site would be most ideal. If this is not possible, please provide details for at least 2 site owner or contributor contacts so that if one contact is on leave, the other contact remains available to respond to any accessibility queries.]

call [phone number]

[add any other contact details]_

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 30 days. If you do not receive a response, please contact the NIHR Service Desk at 0207 333 5060 (internal or external) or visit https://www.support.nihr.ac.uk/sp (internal only) for assistance.

Enforcement procedure

If you do not receive a response to the above request, please contact the NIHR Service Desk (details above) for further escalation.

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).

This website has been built using Google Sites. Please see the NIHR Hub Accessibility Statement which gives more information regarding the general use of Google Sites, including contact details for users who require further Accessibility support.

_To Delete:

How to check Accessibility?:

We suggest using Wave, either via the extension available or via the WAVE website. (Note: This may require the Google Site to be publicly accessible for this tool to work). If users are still facing difficulties, at a VERY minimum users must be applying the Google provided advice to their Google Site. If you do not use WAVE, you need to specify this in the section in the 'preparation of this accessibility statement' and explain the tool of your choice.