Accessibility Statement

Purpose and Scope

This policy defines how Mutual ensures accessibility is embedded in our processes and to enshrine our goal that all people can access our output. It establishes our business-as-usual approach to all work to ensure that our high standards are consistently met.

Commitment and Standards

We commit to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA as our baseline standard and Equality Act 2010 and relevant guidance from the Government Digital Service (GDS).

Our goal is that any of our output should be accessible to any person and is compatible with assistive technologies. Where shortcomings are identified and improvements can be made, we commit to improving as part of the website’s on-going agreement.

Accessible at every step

Accessibility is a holistic process throughout design and development. It is not sustainable to “make a design accessible” later, it needs to be an inherent part of the process.

Accessibility should be considered a key stakeholder throughout the process.

Where possible we will work with content teams to make sure content is accessible as possible, with well structured headings, alternative text, and link text.

In instances where we don’t control the design, we will provide guidance and feedback throughout to try to bring third parties to our high standards, and inform clients where we can’t meet our targets due to third-party constraints.

Testing and Audit Programme

All designs and developments should be thoroughly tested with other accessibility tools to evaluate colour contrast, font sizes, tap targets, etc.

We use Stark as our testing tool. We supplement this with reports from Screaming Frog on a routine basis as part of website support contracts.

Some clients may require higher monitoring, and we will educate them on tools they can subscribe to such as SilkTide where appropriate and offer to monitor these on their behalf to ensure we’re always on top of accessibility improvements.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Account Director: Oversees audits, remediation, and reporting.
• UX Designer: Ensures new components and journeys meet WCAG 2.2 AA.
• Front-End Developer: Implements code standards and regression testing.
• Content Team: Maintains accessible content practices and captions media.

Continuous Improvement

We commit to continuously improve our accessibility practices. When learnings are made they are shared with the team so each piece of work is better than the last.

We work with clients to continuously improve their accessibility standing.

We commit to continuous learning, especially around major WCAG standard changes.

Review and Governance

This policy is reviewed at least annually, or following any significant change to WCAG standards, technology or legislative requirements.