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Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the National Careers Service.

The National Careers Service website is run by the Department for Education. 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 400% 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 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.

Users navigating with a screen reader will:

  • have some form elements read out incorrectly on the contact us page
  • not be able to access some information on the find a course page as it has not been made accessible when the presentation format changes
  • not be able to speak the name of a control on the find a course page because it differs from the visible label

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need help using this website, you can contact us and an adviser will get back to you to provide support.

The following information will help us to deal promptly with your enquiry:

  • the web address (URL) of the page you want help with
  • the type of help you need
  • your name and email address

We’re open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 5pm Saturday.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you find any problems that are not listed on this page, or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, you can:

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The National Careers Service 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 WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) version 2.2 AA standard, due to the following non-compliances.

Non-accessible content

The content is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

On the contact us page, we've identified that:

  • a description for groups of form controls using fieldset and legend elements is not provided (this fails WCAG 2.2 A 1.3.1 - info and relationships)
  • when using the 'chat online' feature, users have to scroll up to the top of the chat to know if a reply has been received, and for the reply to be read aloud by a screen reader (this fails WCAG 2.2 SC 4.1 - status messages)

On the search page on find a course, we've identified that:

  • information and relationships that are implied by visual or auditory formatting are not preserved when the presentation format changes, such as when using a screen reader (this fails WCAG 2.2 A 1.3.1 - info and relationships)
  • an accessible name does not contain the visible label text which means a user navigating with a screen reader will not be able to speak the name of a control because it differs from the visible label (this fails WCAG 2.2 A 2.5.3 - label in name)
  • when filters are applied, a notification is not read out by screen readers to inform a user (this fails WCAG 2.2 SC 4.1 - status messages)

On the 'get relevant careers advice' section on the homepage, we've identified that when filters are applied, a notification is not read out by screen readers to inform a user (this fails WCAG 2.2 SC 4.1 - status messages).

What we're doing to improve accessibility

All known accessibility issues have been logged and we're working to resolve them as a priority. We'll continue to monitor and test the accessibility of this website.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 16 May 2025.

This website was last tested on 25 April 2025. The test was carried out by the Business Engagement and Accessibility Team at the Department for Education and internally by the National Careers Service.