Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Medtech Early Technical Assessment (META) Tool. This website is run by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

NICE is committed to making this 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 2.1 AA Standard.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Page titles are not unique and descriptive of the page content. This means that some users may not be able to identify the purpose or topic of the page content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).
  • There are pages that do not have a main heading and some pages where headings are duplicated. This may make it difficult for users to orient themselves and find the right content. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); and 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
  • There are form elements and grouped input fields which do not have a programmatically associated or visible label. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions); and (4.1.2 Name, Role, Value).
  • Focus jumps past sections when content is expanded. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 2.4.3 (Focus Order).
  • In some cases, the sequence of the HTML does not match the visual order of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence).
  • There are tabs present which are not announced to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  • There is a toggle button which does not announce its state when selected. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)
  • There are elements which reuse the same ID. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing).
  • There are links which have no text to describe the purpose or destination of the link. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 2.4.4 ((Link Purpose (In Context)).
  • There are buttons which have either no discernible text for screen reader users, or the text present is duplicated. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions); and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  • Some pages do not have appropriate form controls for screen reader and keyboard-only users. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); 2.1.1 (Keyboard); and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  • There are custom elements which may confuse some users as they do not behave in the expected manner. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); 2.1.1 (Keyboard); and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).There are no landmarks present to indicate to screen reader users where different regions of the page are situated. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); and 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).
  • There are elements which rely on colour alone to convey information. This fails WCAG 2.1 criteria: 1.4.1 (Use of Colour); and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
  • When users complete an action on the page, there is no confirmation that the action has been successful. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 4.1.3 (Status Messages).
  • There are text elements which fail to meet the minimum required colour contrast ratio. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.4.3 ((Contrast (Minimum)).
  • There are PDF documents which lack the appropriate structure for screen reader users. This fails WCAG criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships); 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence); 2.4.2 (Page Titled); and 3.1.1 (Language of Page).

Disproportionate Burden

We believe that fixing the accessibility problems with some content would be disproportionate because discussions are underway which may significantly change the format of this service. We need to make sure we're investing our limited resource in the most productive way.

The website has a small community of users that are in regular contact with our staff and should anyone need information in a more accessible format, we will supply it.

We reviewed this decision in November 2022 and although progress has been made, we still need clarity about the potential changes to this website. We will review the decision again in June 2023.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Non-HTML documents published before September 2018 do not need to be accessible - unless users need them to use a service.

Audit

This website was last tested on 31 March 2020. The test was carried out by Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC).

The testing focussed on the key usage scenarios for the main user groups. A representative sample of pages was used to enable each scenario to be tested.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

We want everyone to get the best experience from this website. Please let us know if you:

  • need alternative versions of our downloadable documents
  • experience any accessibility problems with our site
  • find any problems that aren’t listed on this page
  • think there’s information we should include on this page
  • think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements.

We will aim to respond within 18 working days.

You can contact us about accessibility or to report problems with this website in several different ways:

Email: nice@nice.org.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)300 323 0140

Address:
Enquiry handling team
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
3rd Floor
3 Piccadilly Place
Manchester
M1 3BN

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).

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1 April 2021.

It was last reviewed on 30 November 2022.