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Accessibility Statement

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

This accessibility statement applies to The Pensions Ombudsman website www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk.

This website is run by The Pensions Ombudsman, we want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings or by choosing a text or colour setting from the options that suit you at the top of every page.
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen 
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or 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 as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible this website is

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

  • Users that rely on their keyboard to navigate the website may struggle when the screen is zoomed to 200% or 400% as the expandable main navigation ‘hamburger menu’ may obscure focussed elements or the focus may not tab away from the main menu
  • Users that have issues with their sight may struggle to read content as there should be a bigger difference between the text and the background colours or in some areas of the site. 
  • Actionable links are sometimes distinguished by only colour, and the contrast between the colour of the text of the link is often not different enough from the colour of the surrounding text.’

Feedback and contact information

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you as quickly as possible and always within 10 working days.

If you need information on this website, including this accessibility statement, in a different format, like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, contact:

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

The Pensions Ombudsman is 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 (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

The Pensions Ombudsman Website was assessed against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

Non-accessible content

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

Issues with ‘focus’ on our main navigation menu when a user has applied zoom at 200% or over may mean that page content of every page is non-accessible if a user relies on keyboard navigation.

Users that have issues with their sight may struggle to read content as there should be a bigger difference between the text and the background colours or in some areas of the site. 

Users that have issues with their sight may not be able to distinguish actionable links as they are sometimes distinguished by only colour, and the contrast between the colour of the text of the link is often not different enough from the colour of the surrounding text.’

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

At 200% zoom, the keyboard focus is not visible after tabbing from the ‘hamburger’ main navigation menu, as the focus continues to tab through links in the menu even when it is closed This means that a user using a keyboard may not know which element has the key board focus and where they are on the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus visible.

At 200% and 400% zoom, when the ‘hamburger’ main navigation menu is open, the keyboard focus can move to the page content behind it if the user tabs away from the menu. This results in the focused element being completely hidden from view and so a user using a keyboard will not know where they are on a page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum).

The small circular colour and contrast icons at the top of every webpage do not have sufficient size or space between them. Which could be difficult to select for someone with limited dexterity. This fails success criterion 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum).

Links should be distinguishable from surrounding text in a way that does not depend on colour. This fails WCAG 2.2. success criterion 1.4.1.

There is insufficient colour contrast on the link to our 'speaker request form' on our ‘News’ page,‘© The Pension Ombudsman 2025' the three links under ‘Category’ on our FAQ page and the ‘© The Pension Ombudsman 2025' in our footer. Poor colour contrast can make it harder for someone with sight loss to see the content properly, navigate to it with keyboard focus or identify links to other content. This also affects some of our PDFs such as the Corporate Strategy 2025-2028. This fails success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum). 

There is insufficient colour contrast between the text for actionable links and standard text contained within this Accessibility Statement and in many other content areas across the site. Poor colour contrast can make it harder for someone with sight loss to navigate to them with keyboard focus or identify links to other content. This fails success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum). 

The above issues identified will be rectified as part of the actions required following our full accessibility audit.

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. For example, we do not plan to fix previous Decisions uploaded before 23 September 2018.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

TPO contracted a full accessibility audit for The Pensions Ombudsman Website that carried out by Civic UK in December 2025 and we are currently awaiting the report. We will update this statement by 30 January 2026 with additional issues identified. We will develop a project plan of associated updates and improvements with a target date for completion of 21 April.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 19 January 2026.

A full accessibility audit for The Pensions Ombudsman Website was carried out by Civic UK in December 2025 and we are currently awaiting the report and actions required. We will update this statement by 30 January 2026.