Accessible documents policy
This policy explains how accessible the documents the Geospatial Commission publishes on GOV.UK are.
Accessible documents at the Geospatial Commission
This policy explains how accessible the documents the Geospatial Commission publishes on GOV.UK are. It covers PDFs and spreadsheets. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement will cover that.
Using our documents
The Geospatial Commission publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDF’s, HTML and Excel. We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:
- provide an HTML option where possible
- tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure
- make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they’re there for
- avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data
- write in plain English
How accessible our documents are
New documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be fully accessible.
However, we know that our National Geospatial Strategy - Call for evidence (published before 23 September 2018) is not fully accessible. However, this document is exempt from the regulations, so we do not currently have any plans to make this accessible.
We have published our charter from the National Geospatial Strategy - Call for evidence in HTML format and if you need to access information in the National Geospatial Strategy - Call for Evidence you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.
What to do if you cannot use one of our documents
If you need a document we’ve published in a different format:
email: geospatialcommission@dsit.gov.uk
Write to us at:
Geospatial Commission
3rd Floor
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ
We’ll consider the request and get back to you in 5 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:
Geospatial Commission
3rd Floor
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ
E: geospatialcommission@dsit.gov.uk
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 the accessibility of our documents
The Geospatial Commission is committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
The documents the Geospatial Commission publishes are fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2. AA standard.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
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 the National Geospatial Strategy - Call for evidence
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
How we tested our documents
We last tested a sample of our documents on 17 September 2020 using a sample of documents from our home page.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Where we can, we will ensure that all new documents published are created in HTML format and where possible, images contained in documents don’t include text.
This page was prepared on 19 October 2020. It was last updated on 19 October 2020.