This accessibility statement applies to all visa and immigration journeys completed through the domain https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/. This includes journeys such as, applying:
- to visit the UK
- to study in the UK
- to work in the UK
- for indefinitely leave to remain to stay in the UK
This website is run by the Home Office. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means 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 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. You can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the Non-accessible content section of this statement.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille contact UK Visas and Immigration.
We will consider your request and get back to you in 30 days.
Find out about digital support with completing your online Home Office application.
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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
If you are in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland who are responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The Home Office is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Across our service we have a timed refresh, since users do not expect a page to refresh automatically, such refreshing can be disorienting. Refreshing also moves the programmatic focus back to the top of the page, away from where the user had it. This fails WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable, 2.2.4 Interruptions, and 3.2.5 Change on Request. This is a security measure to protect the user’s data by ensuring they are still active, and if not, they are logged out of the service.
The United Kingdom coat of arms and the ‘skip to main content’ link have insufficient colour contrast to the footer background. This can make this element hard to see for people with low vision who experience low contrast and therefore fails WCAG: 1.4.3 Contrast. We operate to GDS design patterns.
When zoomed in at 400% the ‘Show All Steps’ link that appears is not reachable using the keyboard. All functionality of the content should be operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard accessible.
Within some application forms there are date fields and amount fields that can be incremented up and down using the arrow keys on the keyboard. When doing this on a MAC and using Voiceover it only announces the replaced digit value for anything above 10. This could make entering accurate numbers in these fields difficult to Voiceover users using the arrow keys to increment or decrement the values. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard accessible. This is partly mitigated by the Check Your Answers page.
Some of the links across the service do not have discernible text. Keyboard users, including visually impaired screen reader users or people who cannot use a mouse, can activate only the links and form elements that can receive programmatic focus. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context).
Some of our fields do not have visible labels, this would make it more difficult for a user of speech recognition software to move focus to these fields. This fails WCAG 1.3.1d Info and relationships.
On the Your Telephone Number page, the telephone number field's accessible name might make it more difficult for a speech recognition user to move focus there because the software may not respond to the command "Click telephone number" as there is "{0}'s" in front of the accessible name. This fails WCAG 2.5.3 Label in name.
Within the application form there is a link in the top right which starts off as "Application Menu". Once the applicant has entered their name then the link becomes the name of the applicant. The link does not provide information to a screenreader user about its state. Also, once the link becomes the person's name rather than "Application Menu" it does not communicate its purpose to a screenreader user. This fails WCAG 4.2.1 Name, Role, Value.
Disproportionate burden
At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.
Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
At this time, we have not identified any content that is not within scope of the accessibility regulations.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 23rd September 2020. It was last reviewed on 23rd May 2023.
This website was last audited on 28th February 2023. Testing was carried out internally by the Home Office.
We tested the service based on a user's ability to complete key journeys. All parts of the chosen journeys were tested, including documents. Journeys were chosen on a number of factors including usage statistics, risk assessments and subject matter.
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