Accessible documents policy

This policy explains how accessible the documents Nuclear Decommissioning Authority publishes on GOV.UK are.


There’s guidance to help you check the accessibility of documents.

This policy explains how the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority publishes accessible documents on GOV.UK. It covers PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of document. It does not cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML. The main GOV.UK accessibility statement covers this.

Using our documents

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) publishes documents in a range of formats, including PDF, Open Standards Format, MS Excel and MS Word.

Because we want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents, when we produce a document we will:

  • 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

Accessibility of our documents

New documents that we publish, and documents you need to download, should be fully accessible.

However, we know that some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2018) are not accessible for a number of reasons, including:

  • some are not tagged properly - for example, they do not contain proper headings or alt text
  • some contain tables that include text rather than data
  • some contain technical content that may not be written in plain English

This mostly applies to our corporate reports and attached files. We are continuing to work hard to make all of our documents as accessible as possible.

But, if you need to access information in one of these document types, 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:

We will consider the request and get back to you in 7 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: enquiries@nda.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 NDA 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 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority publishes are not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-accessible sections are listed below.

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

A few of our documents have diagrams. These images do not have a text alternative, so the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

When we publish new documents we will make sure our use of diagrams meets accessibility standards. A few of our documents are not created with headings. These documents are not structured logically, so the information in them cannot be navigated by people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

When we publish new documents we will make sure our use of headings meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

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

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

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 our earlier Annual Reports and Accounts.

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 20 September 2019. The test was carried out by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

We tested:

  • a PDF
  • MS Word document
  • a spreadsheet

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are ensuring that all authors of documents that we publish externally are aware of the requirements to create accessible document, and we are training employees responsible for creating and publishing documents so that they can check that all future publications meet accessibility standards.

This page was prepared on 20 September 2019. It was last updated on 23 September 2020.