Accessibility statement for the 'Appeal an immigration or asylum decision' service
This accessibility statement applies to the service which allows appellants to submit, track and manage an immigration or asylum appeal online using Start your appeal - Appeal an immigration or asylum decision - HMCTS (appeal-immigration-asylum-decision.service.gov.uk)
This service is run by HM Courts and Tribunals. We want as many people as possible to be able to use it, so we've designed it to be accessible. For example, 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've also made the 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 service may not be accessible:
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- on certain pages links don’t have clear descriptions of their purpose and destinations, for example lack of information on whether the link opens in a new tab
- some fields do not have associated radio buttons, labels or are labelled incorrectly which affects screen readers
- on certain pages, duplicate ID values have been found, which can cause issues for users of assistive technology
- on certain pages, lists aren’t structured correctly which affects screen readers
- some non-text contrast does not meet the 3:1 minimum contrast.
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:
- email HMCTSforms@justice.gov.uk
- call +44 (0) 300 123 1711
- Opening Hours - Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.
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:
- email contactia@justice.gov.uk
- call +44 (0) 300 123 1711
- Opening Hours - Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
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).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our Tribunal venues have audio induction loops and when you submit your appeal, you can also request step-free access, a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter or foreign language interpreter.
Find out how to contact us at https://www.gov.uk/find-court-tribunal.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
HMCTS 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 2.1 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
- In some fields Aria attributes were found. These attributes do not function efficiently with some assistive technology, resulting in information potentially being lost. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).
- On some pages links were found that did not inform the user of their purpose and/or functionality within the link text. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A).
- On some pages there were duplicate ID values found. Duplicate IDs can cause issues for assistive technology. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A).
- On some pages a fieldset of data was found that did not contain a legend to inform users of the purpose of the grouped fieldset elements. This can result in screen reader users not given content for the fieldset data that they are selecting. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A).
- Some text fields were found which were not labelled correctly. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A) & 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).
- On some pages lists were found which have not been structured correctly. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A).
- On some pages a legend heading was found but the corresponding radio buttons were not contained within a fieldset. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A).
- Radio buttons were found which contained an accordion label (drop down information). This information was read directly with the radio button which resulted in readers not being given clear labels to indicate functionality. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A).
- The time-out functionality does not appear fully when the user is navigating the page with reflow, which is done by setting the page viewport to 320 CSS Pixels by 256 CSS Pixels, as it disables scrolling. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA).
- Non-text contrast was found which did not meet the 3:1 minimum contrast ratio. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA).
- Parts of a page were found in a different language that did not contain a valid ‘lang’ attribute. This failed to meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA).
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as PDF/Word documents.
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.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
This website is currently being improved based on the Digital Accessibility Centre report. We plan to rectify the non-compliances listed above by July 2023 and then update this statement. The site is continually tested using accessibility software. Any new features which are introduced will also be tested.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 23 February 2023. It was last reviewed on 16 March 2023.
This website was last tested on 24 January 2023. The test was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre on four principles:
Principle 1: Perceivable – Information and users interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
Principle 2: Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable.
Principle 3: Understandable – Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
Principle 4: Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
To give a more accurate review of the website the DAC team employ two differing testing processes.
The first is a manual technical audit using automated tools and the second a dedicated team of user testers with differing disabilities test using a range of adaptive technologies. The findings of both testing teams are then combined to give the client far more accurate feedback on the website.
By using the testing team in conjunction with an automated procedure a more accurate set of results are made available.
Contact us for help
Ask a question or get help in your language.
Telephone: 0300 123 1711
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
Find out about call charges(opens in a new window)
Email: contactia@justice.gov.uk
We aim to get back to you within 5 days.