Accessibility in the NHS App

As a public sector body, your service must meet the accessibility standards set out in the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. This applies to all teams within NHS organisations building websites or mobile apps. You will need to publish an accessibility statement for your service before you move into the Public Beta phase.

The NHS App accessibility statement covers the pages built by the NHS App team, but does not cover services that integrate with it that are built by other teams. Each integrating service team is responsible for its own accessibility compliance and accessibility statement.

Get an accessibility audit

You need an external accessibility audit to confirm your service meets WCAG 2.2 AA. This the minimum standard required by law for public sector digital services. An audit helps you identify and fix barriers before your service goes live.

You can ask questions about accessibility audits including how to arrange one on the NHS England Accessibility slack channel

Publish an accessibility statement

You must publish an accessibility statement on your service. This helps users understand what to expect and how to get support if they encounter a barrier. Your statement must explain:

  • how accessible your service is
  • any known accessibility issues
  • any parts of the service that are not accessible and why, including anything classed as a disproportionate burden (where the cost of fixing a barrier significantly outweighs the benefit)
  • how users can report accessibility problems
  • what to do if users need information in a different format
  • your enforcement procedure

Learn more about making your service accessible and publishing an accessibility statement

Share your statement with us

Once your statement is published, send the link to the NHS App team. We will add it to the NHS App accessibility statement when your service goes live as an integration. This makes it easier for users to find accessibility information about all the services available in the NHS App.