Hands of Mercy
Hands of Mercy

Accessibility Statement

Last updated: 10 March 2025

1. Our accessibility promise

Hands of Mercy is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We actively work to ensure that our digital content, donation forms, and storytelling are inclusive, and we regularly review our site against recognised accessibility standards.

2. Standards we follow

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities, including those who use assistive technologies such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, or voice recognition software.

3. What we are doing already

  • Using semantic HTML and descriptive headings to structure pages clearly.
  • Providing text alternatives for images and transcripts or captions for video and audio content.
  • Maintaining colour contrast ratios that meet or exceed WCAG requirements.
  • Ensuring forms and interactive components are labelled, keyboard accessible, and announced correctly to assistive technologies.
  • Testing new features with automated accessibility tools, manual audits, and where possible with real users who rely on assistive technologies.
  • Training our staff and volunteers to produce accessible copy, PDFs, and marketing assets.

4. Areas we are improving

We are aware of the following issues and have an active plan to address them:

  • Historic annual reports and safeguarding PDFs produced before 2022 may not be fully screen-reader friendly.
  • Some embedded donation widgets supplied by third parties have limited labelling options. We are working with our suppliers to improve this experience.
  • Occasionally, impact stories include images contributed by field partners that require additional alternative text. We are updating our editorial checklist to ensure every image is reviewed before publication.

5. Alternative formats

If you need information from this website in a different format—such as accessible PDF, large print, Braille, Easy Read, or audio—please contact us and tell us:

  • The web address (URL) of the content you need.
  • Your name and email address or telephone number.
  • The format you require.

We will acknowledge your request within two working days and aim to provide the information within ten working days. Contact: [email protected] or call +44 (0)20 7123 4567.

6. Reporting accessibility problems

We welcome feedback. If you encounter any accessibility barriers on the Hands of Mercy website, please let us know so we can investigate and fix the issue. Email [email protected] or write to Hands of Mercy, Unit 12, Jubilee House, 45 Riverbank Way, London SE1 7QL, United Kingdom. We aim to respond to all enquiries within five working days.

7. 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. If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com or by calling 0808 800 0082.

8. Technical information about this site’s accessibility

This website relies on the following technologies to work with a combination of your web browser and any assistive technologies you use:

  • HTML 5
  • WAI-ARIA
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

9. Assessment approach

Hands of Mercy assesses the accessibility of this website through self-evaluation, automated auditing (using tools such as Axe and Lighthouse), manual testing with keyboard-only navigation, and consultation with supporters who use screen readers.

10. Statement preparation date

This Accessibility Statement was prepared on 1 September 2023 and last reviewed on 10 March 2025. We review the statement annually or sooner if we make significant changes to the website.