Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Hertfordshire and West Essex Work Experience Opportunities website at https://nhshwe.software.uk.com.

Using this website

This website is run by NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex. We want as many people as possible to be able to use it. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
• zoom in up to 400% 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 have also made the text on the website as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet (opens in a new tab) 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:

• on the placement search page, some images and links do not have text alternatives, so screen reader users may hear unlabelled links
• some form fields and buttons, including on the application form, do not have labels that screen readers can announce
• some text and buttons do not have enough colour contrast
• placement pages do not have a main heading
• the application form does not tell your browser which fields are for your name, email and address, so it cannot fill them in for you
• some documents attached to placements are provided by the organisations and may not be fully accessible

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, email academy.hwe@nhs.net. Tell us which page or document you need and the format you would like.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, email academy.hwe@nhs.net.

If you have a question about a placement, see our contact page.

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) (opens in a new tab).

Technical information

NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex 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 2.2 (opens in a new tab) AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is not accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Placement search page

• The organisation logo on each placement has no text alternative, and the logo is a link with no link text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.1.1 (Non-text Content), 2.4.4 (Link Purpose) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
• The search box and its button do not have accessible names. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
• The text showing the selected values on the minimum age and placement length filters does not have enough colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).

Placement pages

• The page has no main heading, and its headings start at level 3. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
• Some dates in the availability calendar do not have enough colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).
• The icons on the calendar’s previous and next month buttons do not have a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).

Application form

• The organisation, site and department drop-down lists do not have accessible names. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
• Some answer buttons, for example for the education and disability questions, do not have enough colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).
• The answer buttons for questions such as gender are built with incorrect list markup, which can confuse screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
• The name, email and address fields do not identify their purpose, so browsers cannot fill them in automatically. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose).

Documents

• Some documents attached to placements, such as risk assessments and insurance certificates, are provided by the organisations offering placements and may not meet accessibility standards. If you need one of these documents in a different format, email academy.hwe@nhs.net.

Disproportionate burden

We are not claiming that fixing any of these issues would be a disproportionate burden.

What we are doing to improve

We redesigned the homepage, header, footer, contact page and privacy notice in October 2026 to meet the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. Automated testing found no issues on these pages.

We plan to fix the issues listed above on the placement search page, placement pages and application form, and we will update this statement as each one is fixed.

Preparation of this statement

This statement was prepared on 13 October 2026. It was last reviewed on 13 October 2026.

This website was last tested on 13 October 2026 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by ActiveManage Ltd, the website supplier.

We tested the homepage, contact page, privacy notice, the placement search page, a sample placement page and the application form. We used automated testing (axe-core) on every page and checked keyboard navigation on the homepage.