Accessible documents policy

This accessibility statement applies to documents published by the Forensic Science Regulator.

The Forensic Science Regulator (The Regulator) has certain obligations under the Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the accessibility regulations) to ensure that the Portable Document Format (PDF) documents that are published on their behalf on GOV.UK are accessible and comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard where that level is available. This document explains how those obligations are met. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement covers that.

Using the Regulator’s documents

The Regulator publishes subject-specific PDF documents on the GOV.UK website for use by the forensic science community. These documents serve a number of purposes and are categorised according to their purpose. They include:

  • the Regulator’s required standards in a given field or activity

  • guidance in how to achieve the requirements of the standard in a given field or activity

  • information relevant to the requirements in a more general context

  • agreements with other bodies or organisations

  • documents promoting lessons learned through investigations into quality issues

The Regulator wants as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. Therefore, when a document is produced, care is taken to:

  • tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure

  • make sure ‘alt text’ is included alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they are there for

  • avoid using tables, except when presenting data or when the information cannot be succinctly presented in another way

  • write in plain English in so far as the technical nature of the documents allows.

How accessible the Regulator’s documents are

Documents published by the Regulator from January 2020 have been produced with accessibility in mind and will satisfy the criteria for accessibility of Adobe Acrobat PDF. Consequently, they should be accessible.

However, some of the Regulator’s previously published documents are not fully accessible. For example, some of them may not be tagged up in a way that allows screen reader technologies to understand them properly, or they may not contain alt text entries for non-decorative images.

Documents published before 23 September 2018 (the date on which the Regulations came into effect) and which are not active as part of the day-to-day function of the Regulator are exempt from the accessibility regulations.

Such documents might include, but are not limited to, ones which have been used during the development of current documentation. Such documents are themselves not used as part of the day-to-day functioning of the Regulator and are not considered active. Consequently, there are currently no plans to make them accessible.

However, if you need to access information in one of these document types, you can contact the Regulator and ask for an alternative format.

What to do if you cannot use one of the Regulator’s documents

If your specific accessibility needs are not met by the criteria laid out for Adobe Acrobat PDF accessibility checkers, and you require one of the Regulator’s documents in a different format from that published, you can request that by email to fsreenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk

The Regulator will consider the request and respond in 14 calendar days to let you know whether your requirements can be met and a date by which a suitable alternative version can be provided. Reporting accessibility problems with one of the Regulator’s documents.

The Regulator is always looking to improve the accessibility of their documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think the Regulator is not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Forensic Science Regulation Unit at fsreenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk, quoting ‘Accessibility issue identification’ as the subject of your communication.

Include in your email the title and identification number of the document and the nature of the issue. The issue will be investigated and a response provided, describing any action taken to remedy it.

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 are not happy with how your complaint is dealt with, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about the accessibility of our documents

The Regulator is committed to making their documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

How we tested the documents

A sample of the Regulator’s documents was last tested on 18 September 2020 using Adobe Acrobat PDF accessibility checks. The test was carried out by civil servants of the Forensic Science Regulation Unit (FSRU) acting in support of the Regulator.

FSRU tested documents categorised as C (Appendix to the Codes), G (Guidance), I (Information) and P (protocol) as representative of the documents that the Regulator publishes. Two documents were selected for each category.

Features such as logos, tables and images were tested, as were areas of text representative of the bulk of the document.

What the Regulator is doing to improve accessibility

The nature of the work of the Regulator means that documents published are subject to strict version control. It is, therefore, not possible to produce a new (and different) version of a document bearing the same unique identifier and issue number. Where a published document is not accessible, or is not sufficiently accessible, the accessibility regulations would indicate an accessible version of that document should be published on the Internet as a direct replacement. As a result of version control that is not possible, but a new, accessible version bearing a new issue number will be published.

This page was prepared on 4 May 2020. It was last updated on 23 October 2020.

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