Royal Cornwall tops leaderboard for website accessibility

In March 2021, HTN reported on a comparison of NHS trust and CCG websites for usability, including content, accessibility, marketing, mobile, social, speed, and legal compliance.

Since our news story, six NHS trust websites have moved into the top 10 in ‘the index’, from Silktide, a company that compares millions of websites.

The company has produced the league table which highlights how organisations in various industries, including health and care settings, compare for web accessibility. It focuses on the practice of making a website usable by everyone, regardless of ability or disability. Its primary aim is inclusion, no matter what a user’s circumstance, and aims to ensure support for a variety of users, such as those with low vision who may have trouble reading low-contrast text on a web page or a user on a mobile device in bright sunlight. The company measures the websites against the international standard for web accessibility, WCAG 2.1.

The trusts joining the top of the leaderboard include Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Princess Royal University Hospital, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Barking, Havering, and Redbridge University Hospitals, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

The highest rated trust is Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, with a score of 99.2%. The top 10 includes:

1. Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
2. Princess Royal University Hospital
3. Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
4. Barking, Havering, and Redbridge University Hospitals
5. Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
6. North Bristol NHS Trust
7. North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
8. Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust
9. West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
10. Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

For CCG websites, there is a new leader, up from second place to first, NHS Kent and Medway CCG scored 90%. NHS Halton Warrington CCG and NHS North Central London CCG have also joined the top five. The top five includes:

1. NHS Kent and Medway CCG
2. NHS North Cumbria CCG
3. NHS Wakefield CCG
4. NHS Halton Warrington CCG
5. NHS North Central London CCG

The website from Silktide also highlights recommendations for improvement, which can include ensuring controls change appearance when they are selected, alternative text for images inside links, that links are distinguished by more than just colour, links explain their purpose and content is not too difficult to understand.

To find out more, view the Index here.