Accessibility Statement

Our commitment

NI Dental Finder is committed to making its website accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of ability or technology. As a public health information resource, we believe everyone in Northern Ireland should be able to find NHS dental care easily.

We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities and more usable for everyone.

What we do to ensure accessibility

NI Dental Finder has been designed with accessibility in mind from the outset. The measures we take include:

Navigation and structure

All pages include a consistent navigation structure with a "Skip to main content" link at the top of every page, allowing keyboard users to bypass repeated navigation. The site uses semantic HTML elements (headings, landmarks, lists) to provide a logical document structure that works well with assistive technologies.

Text and readability

We use clear, plain language throughout the site. Text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. We maintain sufficient colour contrast between text and background colours, and we do not rely on colour alone to convey information.

Keyboard navigation

All interactive elements on the site — including the search form, navigation menu, FAQ accordions, and links — can be operated using a keyboard alone without requiring a mouse.

Images and media

All meaningful images include alternative text descriptions. Decorative images are marked so that screen readers will skip them.

Forms and search

Our dental practice search form uses properly labelled input fields and provides clear feedback when results are displayed. Error messages are descriptive and associated with the relevant form field.

Responsive design

The site is fully responsive and works across desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Content reflows to fit the screen width without requiring horizontal scrolling.

Known limitations

While we work to ensure NI Dental Finder is as accessible as possible, we are aware of the following limitations:

Chart.js visualisations: The statistics page includes interactive charts that may not be fully accessible to screen reader users. Where charts are used, we include text descriptions of the key data points alongside the visual representation.

Third-party content: Some content on the site is generated dynamically from our database. While we take care to ensure this content is accessible, there may be occasional instances where practice names or addresses contain formatting that is not optimised for assistive technologies.

PDF documents: Some downloadable documents are provided in PDF format. These may not be fully accessible to all screen reader software. If you need information from a PDF document in an alternative format, please contact us.

Browser and assistive technology compatibility

NI Dental Finder is designed to be compatible with the following:

Modern web browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge (latest two versions). Screen readers including NVDA (Windows), VoiceOver (macOS and iOS), and TalkBack (Android). The site also works with browser-based accessibility tools such as zoom functionality and high-contrast modes.

Technical standards

The website is built using standard HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. We use semantic markup, ARIA attributes where appropriate, and follow progressive enhancement principles to ensure basic functionality is available even when JavaScript is disabled or unavailable.

Feedback and contact

We welcome feedback on the accessibility of NI Dental Finder. If you encounter any accessibility barriers, have difficulty accessing any part of the site, or need information in an alternative format, please contact us:

Email: find@nidentalfinder.co.uk

We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within 5 working days. Where a genuine accessibility barrier is identified, we will work to resolve it as quickly as possible and will provide the information you need in an alternative format in the meantime.

Enforcement

If you are not satisfied with our response to your accessibility concern, you can contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland:

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Equality House, 7-9 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast BT2 7DP. Telephone: 028 9050 0600. Email: information@equalityni.org. Website: equalityni.org

Assessment and review

This accessibility statement was prepared on 11 April 2026 based on a self-assessment of the website against WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria. We plan to commission an independent accessibility audit during 2026 and will update this statement with the findings.

This statement will be reviewed and updated at least annually, or sooner when significant changes are made to the website.