Accessibility statement for the Apply to extend your filing deadline service

This service is run by Companies House. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this service. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text disappearing 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 simple to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this service is

We know some parts of this service aren’t fully accessible:

  • a timeout is present without indication to users

What to do if you can’t access parts of this service

For the welfare of our staff during the COVID-19 outbreak, our telephone contact centre is now closed. You can still email your queries to enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We are continuing to improve the accessibility of this service. Contact us if you have accessibility requirements that are not listed on this page.

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 service’s accessibility

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

This service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

A timeout is present without indication to users. This fails WCAG 2.2.6 success criterion (timeouts). We plan to fix this by June 2020.

How we tested this service

We regularly carry out internal tests for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA using a variety of manual and automated testing tools.

This service was last (externally) audited on 5 November 2019. The audit was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre.

We tested all the screens from start page to confirmation screen.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

To improve this service's accessibility, we:

  • work with real users who have accessibility issues to make sure that our services meet their needs
  • carry out internal tests for compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA
  • work with external agencies in major UK cities to perform usability research with users
  • recruit customers through our user panel to take part in sessions at our usability lab in Cardiff
  • build and test our services to meet government accessibility requirements
  • are developing an assistive technology lab in our Cardiff office to improve the testing of our services and raise awareness of accessibility

Read our blogs about usability to find out more about our user research work.

This statement was prepared on 4 February 2020. It was last updated on 8 April 2020.