This accessibility statement applies to content published on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) back-up website.

This website is run by the ONS. It is designed to be used whenever the main ONS website (www.ons.gov.uk) is unavailable. This happens infrequently and only for a limited time. It provides a selection of the most important content from the main ONS website. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• listen to parts of the website using a screen reader

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

Most of the content is provided in PDF documents that are not accessible

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information in a different format contact us and tell us:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your name and email address
• the format you need, for example, audio, braille or large print

Alternatively, you may wish to refresh your browser after a few minutes, as we try to get the main ONS website up and running again as soon as possible.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or you think we are not meeting the accessibility requirements, please contact us.

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you are not happy with our response, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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”).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Office for National Statistics 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, due to the exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Not applicable.

Disproportionate burden

This website is designed to only be used when the main ONS website (www.ons.gov.uk) is unavailable to users.

If the main ONS website experiences an issue, we redirect users from the main ONS website to the ONS back-up site for a short time. The back-up site provides PDF versions of market-sensitive and pre-announced releases. This ensures we comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics to publish by 9.30am.

Content published on the back-up site is in a PDF format that is not accessible.

We direct users to the back-up site very rarely and we do not link to or direct users to the ONS back-up site at any other time.

For these reasons, fixing all currently published PDFs on the back-up site would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility guidelines.

We plan to make the PDFs on the back-up site accessible by March 2021. When we are able to make accessible PDFs, the PDFs published on the site from that point will be accessible.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018

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

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescale shown above.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 22 September 2020.

This website was last tested on 9 September 2020. The test was carried out by The Dextrous Web Ltd (trading as dxw).

dxw carried out automated and manual testing using assistive technology, different web browsers and mobile devices using a sample of pages that represented the most commonly occurring page types.