Accessibility Statement for odscni.org.uk

This statement applies to content published on the www.odscni.org.uk domain. It does not apply to content on any third party domains hosting Office of the Discretionary Support Commissioner services.

This website is run by the Department for Communities. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% without problems
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

How accessible this website is

Parts of this website may not be fully accessible. For example:

  • some document attachments may not be clearly written
  • some documents may poor colour contrast
  • some document heading elements may not be consistent

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information in a different format contact us by post, phone or email and tell us:

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

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us by post, phone or email and our web team will investigate the issue.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) is committed to making its 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 2.2(external link opens in a new window / tab) AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:

  • the accessibility problem(s)
  • where it fails the success criteria, and
  • when we plan to fix it

Documents

Between September 2020 and June 2022, we reviewed all documents published since September 2018 and took actions to make them compliant with legislation.

PDFs and other documents published since 23 September 2020 will meet the required accessibility standards. In most instances, the accessibility of these materials will be checked using the on-board tools within MS Office 365 (or newer) and Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020.

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. As a result we will not be fixing these but we do conduct reviews of content each year to ensure it remains current and accurate.

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

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

As a website published before 23 September 2018, we are required to comply with the web accessibility regulations from 23 September 2020.

If you have any problems using this website, contact us by post, phone or email and we will investigate the issue and/or provide you with the information you need in an alternative format.

How we tested this website

This website is tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 level A and level AA, and tests have been carried out externally and independently.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 18 September 2020. It was last updated on 22 September 2026.