Disproportionate Burden Assessment
Whilst we will prioritise patient information to ensure it is digitally accessible wherever possible, we know there are some sections of our website which are not currently accessible that have been produced since September 2018.
Providing descriptions in PDF documents would ensure that everyone can follow and understand the information presented. This includes access for users with blindness, motor impairments, hearing impairments, visual impairments, cognitive disorders, age-related impairments and more.
We have reviewed the PDF documents on the website which include:
There are currently thousands of historical documents created by the organisation on the website.
We have taken an evidence-based approach to evaluate the use of these resources. Compared to the context of the wider website and based on Google Analytics review from 01/09/2022 – 01/09/2023, this shows that only a small number of users access the pages that contain links to the PDF documents.
Each document would require a large amount of time and resources to be recreated in a fully accessible version which would include numerous changes including adding descriptions, colour contrast, and converting these into HTML format.
While the health service is an important service, it cannot be protected from the realities that we need to find ways of saving money and living within our allocated budget. Drivers include our cost base increasing during COVID-19 with a number of legacy costs remaining, significant inflationary pressures and unabating demand for services. The costs required for staff to resolve all existing issues in line with operational demands adds additional time restraints to resolving this issue.
We consider that converting older documents where there is little evidence of demand would represent a disproportionate burden on the organisation in terms of time, resources and cost.
We have taken into consideration that our existing website accessibility statement signposts to those who need information, including accessible PDF documents, to contact the communications team in the first instance who will pass the request onto the relevant team, where accessible resources are available on request.
We have added guidance about creating and uploading accessible PDF documents to our existing website training guides that cover accessibility that are available to staff.
We have enabled an approval process so we can monitor these documents before they are published to monitor accessibility.
We plan to fix existing issues by July 2024.
Alternative text (Alt Text) is a HTML Alt attribute that helps to describe an image to users who are unable to see them. It is used by accessibility tools such as screen readers to help anyone who may have difficulties when browsing the website.
Our website contains thousands of webpages which would require a large amount of time and resources to monitor, evaluate and change all images without alt text. We require Welsh translation for each description which adds an additional cost and demand on time.
While the health service is an important service, it cannot be protected from the realities that we need to find ways of saving money and living within our allocated budget. Drivers include our cost base increasing during COVID-19 with a number of legacy costs remaining, significant inflationary pressures and unabating demand for services. The costs required for staff to resolve all existing issues in line with operational demands adds additional time restraints to resolving this issue.
We have added alt tags with text to images to the majority of primary and secondary pages.
We have prioritised adding alt text and descriptions on webpages with key information for public safety including our contact us page.
We have included accessibility guidance about adding captions and alt text to our website training guides that are available to staff, and we have enabled an approval process so we can monitor these documents before they are published to monitor accessibility.
We plan to fix existing issues by July 2024.
This assessment was prepared on 13th September 2023.