Accessibility
Written for the people who use this site, not for auditors. What is built in, what to expect, and what is still missing.
The NHS workforce includes many staff with access needs, and pay tools are among the least accessible things on the web. This page is written for you rather than for a compliance checklist.
What Is Built In
- Everything works from the keyboard, including the nation, year and band pickers, the explanation and the comparisons.
- Focus is always visible — a thick yellow outline with a dark underline, designed to stay visible on both the white and dark blue panels.
- Help is never hover-only. Explanations open on click or Enter and close with Escape.
- Touch targets are at least 44 pixels, because pay decisions are often made one-handed on a phone at the end of a shift.
- Results are announced through a live region, so screen reader users hear new figures without hunting.
- Charts are paired with the same data as a real table, so nothing is available only as a picture.
- Tables are real tables with row and column headers.
- No time limits anywhere.
- Reduced motion is respected — transitions and chart animation switch off entirely.
- High contrast mode is supported, including selected states and charts.
- Text resizes and reflows to 400% zoom without horizontal scrolling; wide tables scroll inside their own container.
- Print for payroll includes the full workings and expands source links.
Colour and Contrast
Colour is never the only carrier of meaning. Deductions are marked with a minus sign as well as a colour, comparison differences carry a plus or minus, and every chart segment is labelled.
Where JavaScript Is Required
The calculator needs JavaScript because it runs entirely in your browser — which is exactly why nothing you type is sent anywhere. The pay scales are published as plain tables that need none.
What Is Not Done Yet
- No independent audit has taken place. The site is built to meet WCAG 2.2 AA and exceeds it in places, but that is our own assessment. If an audit happens the auditor will be named here with the findings, including anything that failed.
- Screen reader testing has not covered the full range of common combinations.
- No formal cognitive accessibility review has been carried out.
Tell Us What Does Not Work
If something here is difficult or impossible to use, that is a defect and it will be fixed.
Email contact@nhspayscale.co.uk. Tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and the browser or assistive technology you were using if you know it. Accessibility defects are treated as defects, not requests.