Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to information on the Armed Forces Covenant website.

We want everyone to be able to do what they need to do with our websites and services, regardless of their access needs, due to a disability or condition.

The Ministry of Defence owns the content on this website, and we publish documents in a range of formats, including: PDF and HTML. On our website you should be able to:

listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
The text should be clear and simple to understand.

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

How accessible is this website

We aim to meet international accessibility guidelines, however this may not always be possible, or we may have missed a problem.

What to do if you have difficulty using this service

Please do get in touch If you need information in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille contact:

Email: DDC-MODInternet@mod.gov.uk

Post:

Directorate of Defence Communications

Ground Floor, Zone B

Ministry of Defence Main Building

Whitehall

London

SW1A 2HB

Please tell us:

The web address (URL) of the content
Your name and email address
The format you require, for example, audio CD, braille or accessible pdf.

We will consider your request and get back to you within 5 working days of receipt.

Read tips on contacting organisations about inaccessible websites.

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you’re not happy with our response contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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’).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Ministry of Defence is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. Listed below are the non-compliances and exemptions.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some people may find parts of our websites and services difficult to use because:

some pages and document attachments are not clearly written in Plain English
most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
some colour contrast is overlaid with headings making them inaccessible to view
you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
there are parts that are difficult to understand with a screen reader

These issues mean that our websites and services may not meet some WCAG AAA 2.1 success criteria.

We are working on identifying and resolving as many of these issues soon as possible.

We will update this accessibility statement when these issues are fixed.

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

We understand that the regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs, other documents or assets published before 23 September 2018, if they’re not essential to service delivery.

Furthermore, the accessibility regulations do not apply to:

pre-recorded time-based media such as video and audio
third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of Ministry of Defence
archived content and content published before September 2018.

We do not plan to fix this content. However, requests can be made to make specific content accessible for those who need it. Please get in touch with the MOD Internet Team should you require anything further.

How we tested

Testing has been conducted by Ministry of Defence staff. Where they have been checked for compliance, it has been against WCAG 2.0 AA and more recently WCAG 2.1 AAA. We also increasingly test for compatibility and usability with assistive technologies such as screen readers.

This website was last tested on 30 June 2020. The Ministry of Defence Internet Team carried out the test.

We reviewed all content published on or after September 2018.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are reviewing our approach and working towards meeting the regulations by:

developing our accessibility capability across the department
continuing to train our staff to create accessible services
increasing the use of automated and manual accessibility testing in our development process
publishing alternative formats for our users and where feasible making additional adjustments if these are not enough

We will continue to make our site accessible and will have all of our content published since September 2018 fully accessible by the 23 September 2020.

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, please do get in contact with us using the following details: