Accessibility

This website is run by the Financial Ombudsman Service and is designed to be compatible with a range of assistive software, including screen readers like JAWS and NVDA, and speech recognition software. We want our website to be accessible to as many people as possible. For example, that means 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)

Plain Language Commission

We aim to make our website text as straightforward and simple as possible. To help support our commitment to clear communications, we're a member of the Plain Language Commission and our website has been accredited the Clear English Standard.

Get help changing your computer settings 

There are lots of things you can do on your computer to make web pages more accessible. For example, you can:

• magnify your screen
• change text size and colours
• make your mouse easier to use
• use screen readers and talking browsers

If you need help doing these things, you’ll find clear and helpful guidance on the BBC’s My web my way. Another website giving good accessibility information is AbilityNet.

This accessibility statement covers the following sites and sub-domains:

• https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk 
• https://sme.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
• https://cmc.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
• https://help.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• Older embedded datasets. We're currently unable to make them fully accessible to users who navigate via keyboard, and markup/label tables and charts to aid users of assistive technology. 
• Some of our older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the exemptions that are listed below. 

Our non-accessible content

The content listed is non-accessible for the following reasons:

Disproportionate burden

We use Microsoft PowerBI to present some of the older datasets on our website. Specifically, our annual data and our diversity and inclusion data. These older datasets are currently not fully accessible to users who navigate via keyboard, and we can't markup tables and charts to aid users of assistive technology. However, more recently published datasets use a different tool. We’re in the process of changing the presentation of all our data, and our next round of annual datasets will be made available using the different data visualisation tool. We believe that doing so any sooner would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

In the meantime, our annual data and diversity data can be made available in alternative formats. Please contact our stakeholder team and we'll be happy to help provide this information.

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

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, such as an audio recording, large print or braille, please email our accessibility team or call us on 0800 023 4567 – we’ll do our best to meet your needs.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please contact our stakeholder team.

Technical information about the website's accessibility 

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

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in September 2020. It was last reviewed in September 2020.

This website was last tested in November 2019. The test was carried out by Digital Accessibility Centre. They conducted usability testing with a team of disabled users, and tested our website using a number of technical auditing tools. All aspects of our website were tested.

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, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

ReciteMe is available to use on our website. It allows you to customise our site in a way that works for you. It offers a choice of accessibility tools such as a screen reader, translations and display options.

Open Recite Me

Our service is for everyone who needs our help resolving financial disputes.

When you contact us or use our service, we can provide information in different formats and adapt the way we communicate with you – depending on your needs. For example, we can use Braille, large print, coloured paper or background, audio CDs and media files, and we can make and receive calls using Text Relay or our British Sign Language relay service.

If you need information from us, or from this website, in a different format, such as an audio recording, large print or braille, please email us or call us on 0800 023 4567 with details of your case reference number – we’ll do our best to meet your needs. 

We offer a third-party translation service for individuals whose first language is not English, this service is provided on behalf of the Financial Ombudsman Service by DA Languages. They have agreed to treat the information confidentially and are not permitted to use your information for their own purposes. You can find out more about how we use, store and process your personal information in our consumer privacy notice.

If English isn’t your first language and you’d like to speak to us in another language, you can:

• contact us in your own language (we will reply in the same language)
• talk to us on the phone in your own language – call us on 0800 023 4567 and we’ll get an interpreter to speak to you

We can also send out copies of our consumer leaflet – which explains what we do, and how we help people resolve financial disputes, as well as copies of our complaint form – in whatever language you need it in. 

Just call us on 0800 023 4567 or email us and let us know what language you need the leaflet or complaint form in. Our consumer leaflet (PDF 315KB) is available in Welsh on our website. 

Find out more about how we can adapt our service to meet your needs in the information below.