Accessibility statement for the Companies House WebFiling service

Accessibility statement for the Companies House WebFiling service

This service is run by Companies House. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this service. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• zoom in up to 300% without the text disappearing 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text simple to understand.

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

How accessible this service is

We know some parts of this service are not fully accessible. We know that most PDF documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure

What to do if you cannot access parts of this service

To get information on this service in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, contact us by:

• email at enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk
• Telephone +44 (0)303 1234 500
  (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6pm, national call rate)
• telephone (Welsh language) 029 2038 0065
• xminicom: 02920 381245
• writing to us at:

  Companies House
  Crown Way
  Cardiff
  xCF14 3UZ

  DX 33050

We’ll discuss what assistance we can provide to help you meet your responsibilities. With your permission, we’ll place a note on our internal system.

For example, if you have impaired vision and would prefer us to contact you by phone, we can call to remind you when your confirmation statement or accounts are due.

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We are continuing to improve the accessibility of this service. Contact us if you have accessibility requirements that are not listed on this 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’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this service’s accessibility

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

This service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances are listed in the next section.

Non-accessible content

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

PDFs and other documents

Most PDF documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure (not mentioned by DAC, but still a known issue). This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). We are investigating a solution to this problem and will update this statement in due course.

How we tested this service

We regularly carry out internal tests for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA.

This service was last (externally) audited on 2 December 2019. The audit was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre.

We tested

• Sign in/Register
• Company Authentication
• Company profile
• SIC code selection
• Appointment of a director
• Confirmation of Submission
• Payment

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

To improve the accessibility of our services, we:

• work with real users who have accessibility issues to make sure that our services meet their needs
• carry out internal tests for compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA
• work with external agencies in major UK cities to perform usability research with users
• recruit customers through our user panel to take part in sessions at our usability lab in Cardiff
• build and test our services to meet government accessibility requirements
• are developing an assistive technology lab in our Cardiff office to improve the testing of our services and raise awareness of accessibility

This statement was prepared on 5 August 2020. It was last updated on 28 September 2020.