Accessibility is making sure that everyone, regardless of ability, can use and understand the information they are given. To make something accessible, the information we give (whether a document, poster or a presentation for example) must be:

• Perceivable: available to a user’s senses (sight, hearing or touch).
• Understandable: the information provided needs to make sense.
• Operable: if someone is using a keyboard for example, they should be able to do everything that someone using a mouse can do.
• Robust: the web page or document works as expected with the technology that someone is using, such as a screen reader

Making information accessible and easy to understand can make a difference to quality and safety. It can also help our patients (and colleagues) better understand the guidance we give them and plays a big part in reducing health inequalities. We also have a legal obligation to make our documents accessible.

To support colleagues, we have added accessible Word and PowerPoint templates to the Branding and Communications intranet page. We've also produced a handy guide to take colleagues through the process of checking their information before sharing it with their audience. The guidelines apply to both internal and external communications.

The guide - Making our information accessible is below and also on the intranet.