Accessibility of this site

Website accessibility

Accessibility statement for hrp.org.uk

This accessibility statement applies to www.hrp.org.uk

This website is run by Historic Royal Palaces. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader 
  • We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible is our website?

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible, for example:

  • some images do not have image descriptions
  • some pages have duplicate titles
  • some elements have low colour contrast
  • many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

We will update the statement when issues are fixed or when we expect them to be fixed.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: [email protected]

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) or for users in Northern Ireland, the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Historic Royal Palaces is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  1. Some images on pages do not always have suitable alternative descriptions. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to information conveyed in images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
  2. Some pages have duplicate titles. This may make it difficult for users to orient themselves and find the right content. This fails WCAG 2.4.2 success criterion (Page Titled).
  3. There are some elements with low colour contrast. This fails This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast - minimum).
  4. There is no visible focus on the search button at 200% and 400%. This fails WCAG 1.4.4 success criterion (Resize text) and WCAG 1.4.10 (Reflow).
  5. The accordions cannot be accessed using a keyboard at 400%. This fails success criterion WCAG 1.4.10 (Reflow).
  6. The show/hide button for the social media and printing icons does not have accessible text. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 success criterion (Link Purpose) and WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  7. The ‘your message’ input on the contact us page does not have a label. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 success criterion (Info and Relationships) and WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)
  8. Many documents are in less accessible formats, for example PDF. Non-HTML documents published on or after 23 September 2018 must have an accessible format.

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By March 2022, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 17 February 2021. The test was carried out by the Government Digital Service. Automated tests were used to check the accessibility on a sample of pages on the website. The pages were tested using aXe v4.7.1 and any errors were checked manually.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have made changes to our website based on a sample audit of conducted by the Government Digital Service. We intend to conduct a full audit once our website has been redesigned in late 2021 and fix further issues. We will also be fixing content that fails to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We will update this page when issues are fixed.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 29 April 2021. It was last reviewed on 29 April 2021.

Accessibility at the palaces

Please see below for information on accessibility at any of our palaces, including provision for visitors with mobility needs, for parents and families with children on the autism spectrum, for blind and partially sighted visitors and for deaf people and those with hearing loss.