Accessibility statement for Submit cosmetic product notifications

Information on the accessibility of the service for users

This statement applies to the https://submit.cosmetic-product-notifications.service.gov.uk subdomain. It does not apply to content on the https://www.gov.uk/ domain published by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).

This website is run by the Office for Product Safety and Standards. 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
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling 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 as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible the Submit cosmetic product notifications service is

Parts of the Submit cosmetic product notifications service are not fully accessible. For example, some document attachments are not clearly written, and some are in PDF format and not accessible.

Reporting accessibility problems with the Submit cosmetic product notifications service

If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we are not meeting the accessibility requirements, contact opss.enquiries@beis.gov.uk. If you request a response, we will aim to reply within 2 working days.

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you are not happy with our response, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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’).

Technical information about the accessibility of the Submit cosmetic product notifications service

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

The Submit cosmetic product notifications service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the noncompliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some information and relationships are not programmatically determined. This fails WCAG 2.1 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).

The colour contrast ratio of some content is insufficient. This fails WCAG 2.1 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).

Information and functionality are lost if some content is magnified. This fails WCAG 2.1 1.4.10 (Reflow).

Some headings and labels are insufficiently descriptive. This fails WCAG 2.1 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).

Some content requiring user input lacks appropriate labels or instructions. This fails WCAG 2.1 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).

Some elements are not nested appropriately. This fails WCAG 2.1 4.1.1 (Parsing).

Some content does not have an accessible name to help users identify its purpose and reference it. This fails WCAG 2.1 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).

We plan to fix all these issues by October 2023.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

From 1 January 2021, the Submit cosmetic product notifications service requires a ‘Responsible Person’ – a manufacturer, importer, distributor or appointed company or person – to register cosmetic products before they are placed on the market in Great Britain. Cosmetic products available to consumers in Great Britain on 31 December 2020 must also be notified under transitional arrangements. The Submit cosmetic product notifications service allows Responsible Persons to upload documents they have produced. This third-party content is neither funded nor developed by OPSS and is not under its control. As such it is exempt under section 4(2)(e) of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will encourage businesses to ensure that the documents they upload to the Submit cosmetic product notifications service are accessible.

We are working with content and design specialists to improve our layout, content and flow to resolve accessibility issues.

We have rebuilt the ingredient upload facility to remove inaccessible PDFs using the GDS style guide to ensure this new piece of functionality is accessible to all users.

How we tested the Submit cosmetic product notifications service

The website was given a manual technical audit with automated tools and tested by a team with differing disabilities using a range of adaptive technologies. Several accessibility issues were reported and have been resolved apart from the noncompliance identified above.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 4 January 2021. It was last reviewed on 4 August 2023.

This website was last tested on 25 November 2020. The test was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre.