Are you OK with cookies?

We use small files called ‘cookies’ on nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk. Some are essential to make the site work, some help us to understand how we can improve your experience, and some are set by third parties. You can choose to turn off the non-essential cookies. Which cookies are you happy for us to use?

Skip to content

Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for National Preventive Mechanism

This accessibility statement applies to https://www.nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk/.

This website is run by The National Preventive Mechanism. 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 using browser or device settings
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

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 this website is

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

  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Not all links contain link text which conveys the function and purpose of the link
  • Some images do not have a text alternative
  • The home page is missing a level 1 heading

We are working to correct these issues and will update this page once they are completed.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:

NPM Secretariat
HM Inspectorate of Prisons
3rd Floor
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU

Email: UKNPM@hmiprisons.gov.uk

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 in 5 working days.

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 this website’s accessibility

The National Preventive Mechanism 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.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by December 2023. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
  • The purpose of each link cannot be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context. This fails success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context). We plan to review all links and, where required provide link text that identifies the purpose of the link without needing additional context by the end of December 2023.
  • 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.
  • The main landing page is missing a level 1 heading. This hinders the smooth navigation of the main landing page by users of assistive technology and fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships). We plan to add a level 1 heading to the landing page by December 2023.

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable

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

PDFs and other documents

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 the Letter: NPM Chair to MoJ – NPM independence (2017)

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

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 9 October 2023.

The tests on the website were carried out by the Ministry of Justice digital team on a representative sample of pages using keyboard testing, and the WAVE automated testing tool.