This document details the CCD Online Website Accessibility Policy. It covers the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) aims and approach to accessibility, the core functions visitors to the site should be able to perform and what HMRC is doing in practice to improve the accessibility of its website.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recognises that many different forms of disability affect access to the web and we have adopted a proactive approach to improving the services we offer. Making a website accessible means adhering to established carefully developed standards to ensure all users can access the web effectively.
Our aim is to provide a website that meets the needs of our disabled users and offers accessible and inclusive website information and services. We aim to meet the legal requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) for the provision of services and we aim to adhere to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 AA standard.
We further aim to drive forward enhancements which will improve the customer experience beyond our required legal commitments and government guidelines. We seek to provide an excellent customer experience for our disabled users and to become an exemplar site for accessibility.
Our approach to accessibility is to make services easy to use and understand for all customers. This includes anyone who needs to or prefers to customise their computing devices so that they can access the HMRC website effectively. Our approach is to provide simple uncluttered web pages with clear, easy to follow content or systems to work with. We recognise that it is not just disabled people who are affected by accessibility and, our strategy, plans and vision also include people:
All users visiting the HMRC site should be able to:
One of the guiding principles of the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act is that disabled people should be involved in the development and testing of services. We seek the views of disabled users on the quality of our website through feedback, consultation and research with disabled customer groups including the HMRC Disabled Customers Consultation Group (DCCG). HMRC involves, and will continue to involve, all appropriate stakeholders, including those with disabilities, in the development and testing of new services and informational content
HMRC strives to ensure that all new website content, services and applications meet the requirements of the DDA and adhere to the W3C WCAG 1.0 AA accessibility standards. We are achieving this accessibility standard by:
We are identifying and implementing accessibility improvements on a priority basis and we are improving the accessibility of legacy content, services and applications by:
HMRC has adopted a long term accessibility strategy and we can offer an alternative format or solution to most accessibility problems encountered by our customers. It is also possible to arrange for most automatically generated computer output to be intercepted and sent in an alternative format.
For further advice on how to obtain content in an alternative format please follow the link below:
Accessibility and Specialist Services
If you have any questions regarding the accessibility of the HMRC website, or if you experience any difficulty using the website, please follow the guidance on the HMRC feedback page giving details of your query.
