Accessibility

Using this service

This website is run by Ofsted. 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 font size
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate 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 Microsoft Narrator)
  • access the service from common computers and mobile device

We've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand for the target audience of the Ofsted: explore an area tool.

AbilityNet (opens in new tab) has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

This website is partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AAA Standard

We know some parts of this website aren't fully accessible:

  • you can't modify the line height or spacing of text
  • if you save this page as a PDF document then it might not be fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some empty tabular fields exist within a page, but these do not contain or relate to data within Ofsted: explore an area and do not affect the use of screen-readers

What to do if you can't access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format, you can:

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 accessibility requirements, please contact us (opens in new tab).

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) (opens in new tab).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

People who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment can contact us using a text relay service.

You can contact us by:

Our helpline is open from 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 (opens in new tab) version 2.1 AAA standard. Any identified non-compliances are listed below.

Non accessible content

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

  • some automated accessibility checking tools will note the presence of Empty table headers within the tabular data for Ofsted: explore an area. These empty table headers do not affect screen readers, or interpretation or access to data, with the tools and users that we tested with. Table rows contain information that is appropriately labelled and provide context to the information shown.
  • we use leaflet maps. We understand that this can be inaccessible to some user groups. For example, it is not possible to tab through all sections of the map, such as the provider information. The list view tab provides an alternative way for users to see the provider information.

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

We will continue to make improvements to the web service and Ofsted: explore an area content and periodically re-test. We would expect to do this at least annually.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 1 May 2025. The test was carried out by Ofsted's Design & Architecture team.

This statement was first prepared on 1 October 2025. It was last updated on 6 October 2025.