Accessibility Statement

We want this website to be full of simple and useful information that everyone can understand.

We do our best to make sure the language we use on this website is Plain English. Where possible, we try to avoid abbreviations (apart from the ‘AFK’ in our name), as well as avoiding the use of jargon, technical terms and unnecessary language.

We are improving our Alternative Text (sometimes called Alt Text) on images for those who use screenreaders, so that only images that add value to a web page are accompanied by alternative text. Alt Text does not accompany decorative images.

We aim to present all important information as HTML webpages, but we have also created documents that you can download and print. These may be in PDF (Portable Document Format) and/or Word document format.

If you have any problems downloading or reading these files, you may need to download additional software:

• If you can’t open a PDF file, try downloading the latest Adobe Reader software

• If you can’t open a Word document, try downloading the latest Word viewer software

If you require any of our documents in a different format—such as large text, black and white, vanilla, or another language—get in touch by emailing [email protected] or calling 020 8347 8111. We’ll do our best to make these available within a couple of weeks, but some requests may take longer depending on the size of the document. 

We use icons, images, videos and colour-coding on the website to help illustrate the text. This decision came from research and from talking to people with learning disabilities about how we can make our website easier to use.

Our website aims to meet WCAG 2.0 recommended colour contrast ratios, making text easier to read.

We know that the colour of the text and background affects how easy it is to read a page, depending on your needs. For example, high-contrast black text on a white background can be easier to read if you have certain visual impairments. Another example: dark green text on a pale yellow background can be easier to read if you have dyslexia. You can download free fonts like Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic.

Many browsers now enable you to change the colour of the background and text of your screen. This guide by the BBC shows you how to choose your own colours.