Accessibility statement

This website is managed by The National Physical Laboratory and we would like as many people as possible to be able to view and use it.
This means that 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 have 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 is this website?

We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible and we are working hard to make changes as part of our programme of continuous improvement:

• Some of the videos embedded on the site do not have captions or audio description
• Some website components just use colour to convey state
• Some of the panels on the site that have text on a background image have poor contrast
• Forms do not have html auto-complete tokens allowing autofil
• Some of the site widgets are not able to be keyboard operated
• The site stylesheet does not indicate keyboard focus
• The site lacks ARIA markup

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille then please contact us via email at web@npl.co.uk

For alternative contact methods please visit our Contact us page.

We will aim to get back to you in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve our website's accessibility. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, then please email web@npl.co.uk.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to you please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

You can contact us by phone or via email at web@npl.co.uk.

We provide a hearing loop in our auditorium for people who are deaf or have impaired hearing.

Find out how to contact us.

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

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

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

1. Some of the videos embedded on the site do not have an audio description.
   We will be reviewing the videos we embed on the site and add audio descriptions where appropriate.
2. Some website components just use colour to convey state.
   We will look at how our forms and certain widgets convey state and ensure that they are not solely reliant on colour.
3. Some of the panels on the site that have text on a background image have poor contrast.
   We will review the design of the site to ascertain how best to ensure that low-contrast design features can be improved.
4. Forms do not have html autocomplete tokens allowing autofill.
   We will investigate adding html autocomplete tokens to forms across the site. 
5. Some of the site widgets are not able to be keyboard operated.
   We will review all site components to ensure that they are accessible via the keyboard.
6. The site stylesheet does not indicate keyboard focus.
   We will get the stylesheet amended so it is clear where the keyboard focus is on the site.
7. The site lacks ARIA markup
   Where appropriate the site coding will be amended to ensure ARIA markup is added.

Changes to the website are being made as part of our programme of continuous improvement.. All new content published to the website will adhere to web content accessibility guidelines.

Disproportionate burden

Historically, many of our images included text in an overlay style which in some cases contravened accessibility standards. Some of those pages may still be live and we are working to ensure these are updated and replaced.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations don’t 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.

This website was last tested on 16 August 2018. The test and review of the site was carried out internally.

The next test is scheduled for autumn 2023

We tested our main website platform, available at www.npl.co.uk

You can read the full accessibility test report.

Our programme of continuous improvement, which includes a digital roadmap for the website focuses on  the issues highlighted in the non-accessible content section. We plan to improve accessibility on this website continually in the future to ensure we meet existing and future regulations. Further updates to the site with regards to accessibility will be added to this page.

Accessibility tools

In July 2023 we added a new toolbar to the website called Recite me. Recite me creates inclusive experiences online byallowing our visitors to customise content so that they can consume it in ways that work best for them.

Read more about the toolbar 

Accessibility toolbar user guide

This statement was prepared on 9th September 2019. It was last updated on 31st July 2023.