Accessibility Statement

1. Introduction

At Pia, we are committed to creating an inclusive digital experience that reflects our values and responsibilities as an accessible print provider. Everyone should be able to access our online content and services, regardless of ability or access needs.

2. Accessibility Statement

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

It is paramount that Pia’s online information and services are available to all regardless of needs and abilities. We have reviewed our branding, content, navigation, and interactive elements to support inclusive access, and we use adaptive website tools to tailor the experience to individual users.

Compliance Status

We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to everyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the broadest possible audience, regardless of ability.

To fulfil this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities.

Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairments, cognitive disabilities, and more.

This website uses various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We uses an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

Additionally, the website uses an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimises its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts its functionality and behaviour for screen-readers used by blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

If you wish to contact the website’s owner please use the following email: post@pia.co.uk

In addition to WCAG compliance, we recognise our legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, which requires us to make reasonable adjustments and avoid discrimination against people with disabilities.

Screen Reader and Keyboard Navigation

Our website implements the Accessible Rich Internet Applications attributes (ARIA) technique, alongside various behavioural changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen- readers can read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters our site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate our site effectively.

1. Screen reader optimisation:
   We run a process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others.Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images. It provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract text embedded within the image using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.These adjustments are compatible with popular screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack.
2. Keyboard navigation optimisation:
   The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML and adds various behaviours using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find content-skip menus available at any time by clicking Alt+2, or as the first element of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus toward them as soon as they appear, not allowing the focus to drift outside.Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Disability Profiles Supported on Our Website

Epilepsy Safe Profile: this profile enables people with epilepsy to safely use the website by eliminating the risk of seizures resulting from flashing or blinking animations and risky colour combinations.

Vision Impaired Profile: this profile adjusts the website so that it is accessible to the majority of visual impairments such as degrading eyesight, tunnel vision, cataracts, glaucoma, and others.

Cognitive Disability Profile: this profile provides various assistive features to help users with cognitive disabilities such as Autism, Dyslexia, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements more easily.

ADHD Friendly Profile: this profile significantly reduces distractions and noise to help people with ADHD, and Neurodevelopmental disorders browse, read, and focus on the essential elements more easily.

Blind Users Profile (Screen-readers): this profile adjusts the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is installed on the blind user’s computer, and this site is compatible with it.

Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys.

Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Additional UI, Design, and Readability Adjustments

1. Font adjustments
   Users can increase and decrease font size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
2. Colour adjustments
   Users can select various colour contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap colour schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds with over seven different colouring options.
3. Animations
   Epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
4. Content highlighting
   Users can choose to emphasise essential elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
5. Audio muting
   Users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
6. Cognitive disorders
   We use a search engine linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
7. Additional functions
   We allow users to change cursor colour and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

Assistive Technology and Browser Compatibility

We aim to support as many browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS, and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and Mac users.

3. Scope

This policy applies to all digital content and services managed by Pia, including:

• Our main website and all pages under the domain pia.co.uk and pia.co.uk/cy
• Interactive features including forms, and navigation menus
• Downloadable documents such as PDFs and Word files
• Embedded media including videos, audio, and images

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Third-Party Services
We work with third-party providers to deliver certain services and functionality. While we select these partners carefully and encourage them to follow accessibility best practices, we cannot guarantee full compliance with accessibility standards for external platforms or services. If you encounter any issues with such third-party services, please contact us by email at post@pia.co.uk.

External Links
Pia holds no responsibility for the content or accessibility of external websites. We take care in the content we share; however, any issues encountered on external sites relating to their content and accessibility are not within our control.

PDF Documents
We strive to produce accessible PDFs suitable for screen reader users. However, some design elements may present challenges. If you require an alternative format, please contact us at post@pia.co.uk.

Browser Compatibility
As stated in ‘Assistive technology and browser compatibility’ we aim to support a wide range of browsers and operating systems. However, older software may not be compatible with newer technologies. Wherever possible, we recommend updating your system to ensure security and accessibility.

4. Ongoing Improvements

Accessibility is an ongoing commitment at Pia. We take the following steps to ensure continuous improvement:

• Regular Accessibility Audits using automated tools and manual testing
• User Feedback Integration
• Content Reviews to maintain clarity and compliance
• Monitoring of Standards and Legislation to stay current with best practices

We work with a trusted third-party accessibility service to support our efforts and ensure our website remains inclusive and usable. The service provided by accessiBe offers a range of modifications tailored to your usage and has been chosen by Pia to optimise your experience. However, should any content present a challenge, please contact us by email at post@pia.co.uk.

5. Known Accessibility Issues

We are aware that some content may not be fully accessible to all users. These issues may include:

• Complex visual layouts in some PDF documents
• Limited compatibility with older browsers or operating systems
• Third-party tools that may not meet WCAG standards

We actively work to address these issues and welcome feedback to help us improve.

6. Feedback and Contact

If you encounter any issues accessing our website or need content in an alternative format, please contact us:

Email: post@pia.co.uk

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).