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Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for cps.gov.uk

This accessibility statement applies to the main CPS website (www.cps.gov.uk). It does not apply to the subdomains that control our contact form (contact.cps.gov.uk) or our Advocate Panels subdomain (cps.outsystemsenterprise.com). However, any accessibility issues that are picked up by external users or audits are passed on to the controllers of these subdomains for attention.

This website is run by the Crown Prosecution Service. 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 online forms using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • skip to the main content when using a screen reader screen

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, a large proportion of our text concerns legal guidance and definitions intended primarily for use by an audience of qualified lawyers, which we are obliged to publish in a form that is legally correct. We recognise that some of this text may therefore not be simple for everyone to understand. Where this text specifically refers to (e.g.) people with learning disabilities, we are committed to publishing Easy Read versions of the text.

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

How accessible this website is

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

  • some older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams do not have captions

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 14 working days.

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:

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

The CPS Areas and headquarters are currently maintaining core business functions, while doing all we can to minimise in-person contact.

Please communicate with us by email, telephone and secure digital media wherever possible. Royal Mail and other post delivered to our offices will be checked periodically, but normal mail response times cannot be guaranteed. All hand deliveries must be made by appointment only.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Crown Prosecution Service 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 the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are made available as an alternative to HTML forms and website pages to support people who would prefer these formats. We have some older PDFs with information on how users can access our services and forms published as Word documents. From September 2020, we have ensured that these are as accessible as possible or plan to supersede 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. For example, we do not plan to fix CSV files or spreadsheets that we are legally obligated to publish periodically.

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

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams (if we use these in future) because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will audit the site to cover accessibility issues following any major changes to the functionality of the site. We will then audit the site once a year to identify and address any accessibility issues.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was originally published on Monday 17 May 2021. It was last reviewed on 26 May 2023.

This website was tested in May 2021. The test was carried out by CIVIC Computing Limited.

CIVIC ran an automated accessibility scanner (SortSite) across all pages of the site, to detect compliance with WCAG 2.1 (AA). This was followed by a manual accessibility audit of a representative sample of page and template types (8 pages plus the homepage) and was conducted using common browser and assistive technology pairs in accordance with https://design-system.service.gov.uk/accessibility/. The audit was carried out on desktop (using NVDA) and iPhone and iPad (using VoiceOver).

The website was tested again in February 2023. This audit was performed by one-to-one testing with people with various disabilities in order to identify any real-world issues experienced by these users. The test was carried out by CIVIC Computing Limited.

Participants were asked to give information on:

  • Assistive Technology that was required including any browser extensions that may be used
  • Browser/Operating System settings or preferences, such increasing the default font size etc
  • Reasons for those choices including any relevant information on their general experience of using the web

When testing the website itself the goal was to see how well it stood against the Four Principles of
Accessibility testing to see if it was:

  • Perceivable
  • Operable
  • Understandable
  • Robust

This audit raised some website design issues, some of which affect disabled users, and others which have the potential to make the website journey more difficult for all users, not only those with disabilities. These are being addressed as part of an ongoing programme of improvement works to the CPS website.

The next comprehensive accessibility audit is planned for May 2024. Once completed, this statement will be updated accordingly to reflect any amendments made.