Accessible documents policy

This policy explains how accessible the documents that the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain publish on GOV.UK are.

Our poliy covers PDFs, spreadsheets and other types of documents. It doesn’t cover content published on GOV.UK as HTML: the main GOV.UK accessibility statement will cover that.

Using our documents

We publish documents in a range of formats, including PDF, MS Word and Excel and OpenDocument format.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we:

  • 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 can’t see them understand what they’re there for
  • avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data
  • write in plain English where possible

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 some of our older documents (published before 23 September 2018) aren’t accessible. For example, some of them:

  • aren’t marked up in a way that allows screen reader users to understand them
  • aren’t tagged properly - for example, they don’t contain proper headings
  • aren’t written in plain English

Some of these are historic documents that are not essential to providing our services. These types of documents are exempt from the regulations, so we don’t currently have any plans to make them accessible.

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 can’t use one of our documents

If you need a document we’ve published in a different format contact us.

Email webpublishing@otc.gov.uk

Address

Web Publishing Team - TCCO

Office of the Traffic Commissioner

Eastbrook

Shaftesbury Road

Cambridge

CB2 8BF

We’ll consider the request and get back to you within 7 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 that aren’t listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact our web publishing team.

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

We are committed to making our documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The documents DfT, CCAV, DPTAC and OLEV publishes are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non accessible content

Some documents and forms may not be fully accessible, and we continue to work on improving their accessibility. The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Some of our PDFs are not accessible as they are not tagged properly
  • Some PDFs and Excel documents fail on the perceivable and operable WCAG2 criteria
  • For PDFs that fall within this category and do not represent a disproportionate burden (published after 23 September 2018), we will look at updating them by 1 January 2021
  • For Excel documents, we will ensure we are providing CSV and Open Document alternatives.

Inability to provide plain English documents

Lots of the documents we publish are written with main intention of providing legal advice and guidance. This includes all written decisions and the Senior Traffic Commissioner’s statutory guidance and directions documents. These documents cover very technical areas of the law that often require specific forms of wording.

In the case of written decisions, these are the judgements of the traffic commissioner, sent by letter to operators against whom they have made a judgement. Publishing them online is intended to provide transparency about their decisions

It would be incompatible with the principles of transparency if the version made available publicly online was worded significantly differently to the version sent to the operator. They will be made available in an accessible HTML format from now on, but it may never be possible to write them in plain English.

Disproportionate burden

There were thousands of historic PDF ‘Applications and Decisions’ (A&D) and ‘Notices and Proceedings’ (N&P) documents on our website. These are of historic interest only, so the vast majority have been moved to the National Archives website. Here’s a link to:

The remaining documents are also mainly of historic interest only and we do not intend to make them accessible. The same information is also available in a more accessible format using our check vehicle operator licensing applications tool. From 23 September 2020, the A&D and N&P documents will be amended to be more compliant with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

There are also hundreds of traffic commissioners’ written decisions on GOV.UK. These documents are mainly stored for transparency purposes and are maintained as a historical record. We do not therefore intend to publish accessible versions of previously published written decisions online, but will publish them in HTML-only format from 23 September 2020 onwards.

If you want a particular document in an accessible format, email our web publishing team.

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

Many of our older PDFs documents don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings). Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we publish forms as PDF documents. We plan to provide ODT alternatives by 23 September 2020.

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.

How we tested our documents

We last tested our documents on 25 August 2020. The test was carried out by staff at the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.

We tested:

  • PDFs
  • Excel spreadsheets

We tested these documents based on how often people look at them and whether they directly relate to services aimed at disabled people.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have put guidance and procedures in place to ensure that all new documents that we produce are accessible.

We are reviewing and editing older documents to add features to make them more accessible to people using screen readers.

This page was prepared on 16 September 2020.

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