The first stop for professional medicines advice

Accessibility

Contents
  1. Accessibility Statement
    1. Compliance status
    2. What we’re doing to improve accessibility
    3. Supported assistive software
    4. Preparation of this accessibility statement
    5. Feedback and contact information
    6. Enforcement procedure

Accessibility Statement

The Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Website (sps.nhs.uk). This accessibility statement does not cover other websites that may be operated by or for SPS in the future.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliance listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

(a) non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Some files such as PDF and Word documents that are attached to some webpages have not been created using appropriate headings and structure, so they are not always available to assistive technology. This makes the content difficult to understand and navigate for users of screen readers. This does not meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 criteria 1.3.1 and 2.4.6.
  • Some third-party content or features, such as embedded videos or podcasts, do not have captions or transcriptions. This does not meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 criteria 1.2.1 to 1.2.5.
  • Some links on the website are ambiguous and the purpose of the link is not clear from the link text alone. This does not meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 criterion 2.4.4.
  • Images do not always have text alternatives, which means some content is not available when using text-to-speech software. This does not meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 criterion 1.1.1

We are currently working through these to make the website fully accessible. We plan to have updated them by September 2026. When we publish new content, we will make sure our attachments, videos, podcasts and links meet accessibility standards. If you are having problems accessing our content in the meantime, please contact us by emailing asksps.nhs@sps.direct.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

As part of our commitment to improve the accessibility of the SPS website, we are developing a project group to work through all the accessibility issues we have identified. Improving the accessibility of our content is a priority for us and we are committed to resolving the issues identified. This includes:

  • An accessibility review of all attached files, including PDF and Word files: we’re actively reviewing all attached content across the site. Non-accessible PDF and Word files are being identified and prioritised for updates or replacement with accessible formats.
  • NHS Design System adoption: for most digital projects (such as the Refrigerated Medicines Stability Tool), we’ve implemented the NHS Design System, ensuring accessibility is built into the foundation of web apps.
  • Reviewing and updating ambiguous links.
  • Reviewing podcasts and videos that do not have captions or transcriptions.
  • Reviewing and updating images that do not have text alternatives.
  • We are in the process of conducting a full accessibility audit of the website. We will update this statement with the results of that audit.

Supported assistive software

The SPS website is compatible with most standard assistive software, including the screen readers NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) and JAWS.

Printing webpages in your browser

If text appears too small when you print a page, you can adjust the settings to a size that suits you. Here’s how it’s done in the most common web browsers:

Firefox
If using Mozilla Firefox, go to ‘Print Preview’ in the ‘File’ menu and change the page scale to the preferred size.

Internet Explorer
If using Internet Explorer, go to ‘Print Preview’ in the ‘File’ menu and change the page scale to the preferred size.

Chrome
Chrome does not give sizing options within the print options and your computer’s ‘Print Preferences’ will need to be used.

Safari
Before going to print, increase the webpage font by pressing the ‘Ctrl’ and ‘+’ keys at the same time or by going to ‘Menu’ then ‘View’ then ‘Zoom in’. The printed page will be printed at the new font size.

Opera
Before going to print, increase the webpage font by pressing the ‘Ctrl’ and ‘+’ keys at the same time or by going to ‘Menu’ then ‘View’ then ‘Zoom’. The printed page will be printed at the new font size.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 February 2025. We plan to review our website and update this statement at least yearly.

This accessibility statement, and the latest accessibility updates, have been prepared using feedback from the most recent accessibility scan conducted by the Accessibility Monitoring Team from the Cabinet Office. Their review included automated and manual testing methods, identifying areas of compliance and any potential issues.

We have identified additional accessibility concerns through internal manual review and are also planning a full third-party automated audit of the whole website. We will update this statement with the results from the audit.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, you can contact Ben Rehman (Head of Digital SPS) using the following email below.

Email: asksps.nhs@sps.direct

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).