Accessibility statement for londonneonatalnetwork.org.uk

This accessibility statement applies to the London Neonatal Network website at londonneonatalnetwork.org.uk.

This website is run by the London Neonatal Network — the NHS Operational Delivery Network that coordinates care across all 26 neonatal units in London. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. The website serves two audiences with very different needs: families navigating the neonatal journey, often at the most difficult moments of their lives, and the clinical professionals who care for them. Accessibility matters to both groups, and we take it seriously.

How you can use this website

The website is designed so that you can:

  • Change text size, font, background colour and contrast using the accessibility toolbar that appears on every page
  • Pause or stop animations and motion effects through the same toolbar
  • Highlight links and buttons to make them easier to identify
  • Read text in a dyslexia-friendly font using the “readable font” option in the toolbar
  • Navigate the entire website using only a keyboard
  • Use the “Skip to content” link at the top of every page to jump past the navigation
  • Resize text up to 200% in your browser without text disappearing off the screen
  • Listen to content using a screen reader (such as VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS or TalkBack)
  • Download translated PDF versions of priority parent leaflets in more than 25 languages, including Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Farsi, Gujarati, Pashto, Polish, Somali, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu and Yoruba

We have written the website’s parent-facing content in plain English wherever clinical accuracy allows, so it remains as easy to follow as possible at one of the most stressful times in a family’s life.

How accessible this website currently is

We aim to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 at the AA standard. We are not yet fully compliant with that standard and we are being honest about the gaps. The areas where we know the site does not yet meet WCAG 2.2 AA, and which we are actively working to fix, are listed below.

Known issues we are working on

  • Heading hierarchy. On some pages, our heading order does not progress in a strict H1 → H2 → H3 sequence. Our homepage uses three H2 elements as a slogan device, and our mega-menu uses H5 headings without parent H3 or H4 headings above them. We are reviewing each page and restructuring headings so screen reader users can navigate page structure consistently. This work is in progress.
  • Image alternative text. Some images on the site — particularly the homepage slider and some legacy gallery images — currently use generic or empty alternative text. We are auditing every image on the site and either adding descriptive alt text or marking decorative images so screen readers skip them appropriately.
  • Icon-only links. Social media icons and one or two other icon-only links in the header do not yet have descriptive accessible names. We are adding aria-labels and screen-reader-only text so the link destination is clear to assistive technology users.
  • Some older PDF documents. Older clinical guideline PDFs and archived newsletters predating 2024 may not be fully accessible to screen readers. New PDF documents added from May 2026 onwards are produced to accessibility standards. We are working through historical PDFs progressively, prioritising the documents most-used by parents and professionals.
  • Form labels and instructions. A small number of forms on the site rely on placeholder text rather than visible labels. These are being updated so every form input has a clear, visible label.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We have commissioned a structured accessibility remediation programme with HB Creativity, who designed and built the website. The programme covers:

  1. A full heading hierarchy review across every page of the site, including the homepage, mega-menu and unit pages.
  2. An image alt-text audit, with descriptive alt text added to every meaningful image and decorative images marked appropriately.
  3. An icon-only link audit, with accessible names added to all icon-based links.
  4. A form-field label review, confirming every input has a properly associated visible label.
  5. Compliance with the new WCAG 2.2 criteria — Target Size Minimum, Focus Not Obscured, Consistent Help, Redundant Entry and Accessible Authentication.
  6. A pre- and post-remediation audit using axe DevTools, WAVE and manual keyboard and screen-reader testing to verify the fixes.

We will publish an updated accessibility statement once this remediation work is complete, and we will continue to be honest about any remaining issues.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find a problem that is not listed on this page, or if you think we are not meeting the accessibility requirements, please contact us:

Please tell us:

  • The URL of the page where you encountered the problem
  • What you were trying to do
  • What went wrong, in as much detail as you can
  • Which assistive technology you were using, if any (for example: screen reader name and version, browser, operating system)

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS):

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The London Neonatal Network is committed to making its website accessible in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status: This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard. The non-compliance issues are listed in the “Known issues we are working on” section above.

Disproportionate burden: We are not currently claiming that compliance with any specific WCAG 2.2 AA criterion would be a disproportionate burden.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations: Some third-party content embedded on the site (for example, videos and content hosted by third parties) may not be fully accessible. Where possible we have selected accessible alternatives, and we are reviewing all third-party embedded content as part of our remediation programme.

 

Preparation of this statement

This statement was prepared on March 2026.

The statement was prepared based on a self-assessment of the website carried out by the London Neonatal Network using the axe DevTools accessibility scanner, WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool, and manual keyboard and screen-reader testing across iOS, Android and desktop browsers.

We review this statement at every major update to the website.