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Making workplace pensions work

Accessibility statement

This statement applies to the following website and its sub-domains: 

  • www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
  • exchange.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
  • automation.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk

On this page

Accessibility statement for The Pensions Regulator website

This website is run by The Pensions Regulator. We want our online services to be inclusive so as many people as possible are able to use them, reducing the cognitive load for users and avoiding significant usability issues:

  • Page layouts scale consistently and are mobile and tablet friendly including:
    • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
    • use a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
    • navigate the website using a keyboard, switch controls or speech recognition software
  • Error identification is clearer, and error recovery is quicker and simpler
  • Users can change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
  • Where text or terminology was difficult to understand, contextual help is provided using our automatic enrolment ‘Search Q&As’ feature.

Throughout 2025 and 2026, an independent expert agency (CIVIC) tested our accessibility using a mixture of automated and manual testing using assistive technologies.

  • They conducted an automated accessibility scan of the entire website.
  • They carried out manual accessibility evaluation to code level using browser code inspectors, an approach that identifies issues that cannot be captured by automated tools.
  • They viewed the application in a range of browsers:
    • Chrome, Firefox and Edge on Windows 10 and 11
    • Safari on iPad & iPhone and Mac
  • They assessed pages using the following assistive technology:
    • NVDA (with Firefox and Chrome) screen reader for Windows
    • VoiceOver for iPad & iPhone (iOS) and macOS
    • Talkback for Android
  • They checked colour combinations using a colour contrast analyser to determine if there is enough contrast in the visual presentation.

How accessible this website is

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

  • Website form pages in sections such as ‘contact us’ are not accessible.
  • Our careers website is not fully accessible.
  • Longer webinar videos do not have transcripts.
  • Some broken links have been identified by an automated scanner. We have fixed many broken links, but in future please email web@tpr.gov.uk if any links are found to be broken. Links to external services are out of our control.
  • Some components do not supply enough colour contrast.
  • HTML non-compliances may have an impact on the accessibility of the page.
  • Some links do not have an accessible name.
  • Some links do not have visible and accessible labels.
  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • Some SVG images receive focus twice in Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page, think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, or if you need information on these websites in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact us.

We will acknowledge your request within five working days and respond to you within 20 working days.

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

We are 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 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

We know some parts of our online services are not fully accessible. Here are the main issues that could have an impact on some users: 

  • Across our ‘contact us’ form pages navigation dropdowns are not accessible across devices. Navigation links do not function reliably due to HTTP URLs and blocked scripts. Off canvas menu does not restore viewport on focus change. Also, search forms submit over insecure HTTP, causing functional failure.

    These accessibility issues fail WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.1.1, 2.4.3, 2.4.4, 2.4.5, 2.4.11, 3.2.3 and 3.3.1. These issues are due to be improved by end of May 2026.

  • The careers website, which features our ‘Job search’ function is not fully accessible. Interaction on cards is incorrect, and main navigation is not available on mobile devices.

    These accessibility issues fail WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 2.4.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.5 and 3.2.5. These issues are due to be improved by the end of July 2026. 

  • The employers section was re-tested and the following new issues have been identified. Element div is missing one or more required attributes. Elements with role=listbox must contain or own an element with role=option and must not contain elements with other roles. The element/interactive element button must not appear as a descendant of the ‘a element’. The legend must be the first child in the fieldset and must not be blank.

    These accessibility issues fail WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 and 4.1.2 These issues are due to be improved by the end of July 2026. 

  • When a ‘search’ query contains spelling errors, users are not provided with any guidance or suggestions to help correct the query.

    This accessibility issue fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.3.3 and is due to be resolved by the end of July 2026. 

Disproportionate burden 

We publish Codes of practice that include numerous footnotes. These do not include links from where each footnote is referenced as we cannot amend the content without asking Parliament to approve these changes.

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

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

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. For example, we do not plan to fix older research documents.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are reviewing accessibility issues iteratively as we make fixes to ensure that issues are addressed without creating additional problems, reducing the cognitive load for users. 

To continually improve accessibility, our accessibility consultants will conduct annual reviews against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. We will capture testing insights from our observations, participant feedback, and task success and failures. Frequent testing and updates will help ensure that our solutions work for all users. 

We are making good progress towards achieving WCAG 2.2 accessibility standards, and we have already incorporated the following improvements to our internal processes: 

  • Made accessibility testing part of our delivery pipeline, for example, automated tests, integrated into a continuous integration process, would catch common issues for users
  • Ensure that Quality Assurance includes testing on mobile
  • Incorporate internal accessibility reviews into all new design decisions and changes
  • Conduct accessibility re-audit/spot-check after changes are made

We have also made the following improvements to our website: 

  • A Q&A section covering automatic enrolment and re-enrolment was implemented mid-2025, and accessibility fixes have been completed recently on the search facility.
  • A new global website search, which was removed during our CMS migration in 2025, was improved for accessibility (and usability) and added back to the website in early 2026.
  • We moved our blog to our website in early 2026. This made its design consistent with the rest of the site and improved its accessibility.
  • Most footnotes are now more accessible.
  • Short videos (not including webinars) now include transcripts, and titles making them more accessible.
  • Data tables now include accessible, downloadable CSV versions.
  • Page heading hierarchies have been improved.
  • Improved alt text across images and graphs better assists screen readers. 

Common problems identified in recent audits of the website have now been fixed. Remaining issues are being worked on, and we plan to resolve them by the end of July 2026.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23 September 2019. It was last reviewed on 31 March 2026.

These websites have already been or are being tested throughout 2025 and 2026, against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard, by CIVIC.

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