Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for nationalarchives.gov.uk

We want as many people as possible to be able to use The National Archives website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
• zoom in up to 400% without problems
• navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• Most older PDF documents, including scans of documents from our collection, and scanned correspondence provided in support of Freedom of Information responses, are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
• Some of the video clips embedded on the website do not have captions.
• The image viewer in our online catalogue, Discovery, is not fully keyboard accessible.

Domains covered by this accessibility statement

Feedback and contact information

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you need information on this website in a different format (for example accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille), please get in touch with our Webmaster via email or our Quality Manager by phone.

You can also use these contact details to report accessibility problems with this website.

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).

Compliance status

The National Archives website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Non-compliance issues will be resolved as we move to a new platform in 2026/2027. The statement will be updated as services are replaced.

We plan to fix these by March 2027.

1. Some headings not marked up correctly for screen reader users
   (1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A))
2. Some content has not been marked up correctly to inform screen reader users of interactions
   (4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A))
3. Some pages contain links that are non-descriptive
   (2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only) (Level A))
4. Images on some pages are missing descriptive alt text attributes
   (1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A))
5. Navigation elements, non-focusable interactive element and tablists on some pages have incorrect Aria attributes
   (4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A))
6. Some pages include non-dismissible animations
   (2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A))
7. Some pages do not contain correct Aria attributes and have information and selected elements that are only visually conveyed
   (1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A))
8. Some links and inputs do not have accessible names.
   (2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A))
   (4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A))
9. Some error messages do not identify the correct input.
   (1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A))
10. Some elements include non-descriptive labels, duplicated headings and identically labeled buttons
    (2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA))
11. Elements on some pages fail the non-text contrast requirement
    (1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA))
12. Text on some pages fails the minimum colour contrast requirements
    (1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA))
13. Some interactive elements contain text as an image
    (1.4.5 Images of Text (Level AA)).
14. There are links to PDFs and other non-HTML content that do not inform the user of the file type
    (2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A))
15. On the Contact us page the ‘Offline’ image next to the ‘Live Chat’ heading is an image of text
    (1.4.5: Images of Text (Level AA))
16. The image viewer controls in Discovery are not fully keyboard accessible
    (2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A))
17. Some pages do not describe the human language they contain
    (3.1.1: Language of Page (Level A))
18. Some pages have a ‘Skip to content’ link to a non-existent page fragment
    (1.3.1: Info and Relationships (Level A))

Disproportionate burden

We do not currently make any claims of disproportionate burden for any of our services.

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

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Reproductions of items in heritage collections are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

With the exception of PDFs published before 23 September 2018 and reproductions of items in heritage collections, we do not host any content which we consider to be outside the scope of the accessibility regulations.

Other identified and tracked accessibility concerns

Above and beyond non-compliant content, we also track accessibility concerns which:

• show strong evidence of being accessibility barriers
• do not constitute a failure in one or more WCAG 2.2 Level AA criteria
• are not classified as non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
• are determined as worth featuring in this accessibility statement

There are currently no known accessibility concerns in the National Archives website which we have determined to be worth featuring in this accessibility statement.

Testing our products for accessibility

The National Archives website was tested, based on key user journeys, in 2019, 2021 and 2024 by the Digital Accessibility Centre.

The website is tested internally for accessibility issues during the release of every new feature.

How we make our websites accessible

Where possible, we aim to research components and patterns with a representative range of users, including those with disabilities.

We also test components to make sure they work with a broad range of browsers, devices and assistive technologies – including screen magnifiers, screen readers and speech recognition tools.

When we publish new content, we will continue to make sure that it meets accessibility standards.

We mirror the GOV.UK accessibility strategy to improve the accessibility of our website.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 20 April 2026. It was last reviewed on 17 July 2026.