Accessibility statement for the pay fees for paper forms service

This accessibility statement applies to the pay fees for paper forms service, available at https://fees.ipo.gov.uk/pay/

This service is run by The Intellectual Property Office.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this service. 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
• get from the start of the service to the end using just a keyboard
• get from the start of the service to the end using speech recognition software
• listen to the service using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the service 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 service is

This service has been tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA. We carried out these tests internally using the WAVE accessibility testing tool.

The result of this testing found that the customer reference control has more than one label associated with it, which may cause problems for users of assistive technology.

We are in the process of addressing this issue.

Feedback and contact information

If you have difficulty using this service, or need something in a different format such as large print, audio recording or braille, then contact our general enquiries team:

• email: [email protected]
• telephone: 0300 300 2000

Telephone lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays.

We’ll consider all requests for different formats and get back to you within 10 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this service. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page, or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact our customer insight team:

• email: [email protected]
• telephone: 0300 300 2000

Telephone lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays.

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops. If you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter to help you complete the service in person.

Find out how to contact us

Technical information about this service’s accessibility

The Intellectual Property Office is committed to making this service accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Within the second page, where you enter the amount to pay and optional customer reference, there is a form control which has more than one label associated with it. This can cause problems for users of assistive technology as the correct label may not be read. This does not meet WCAG success criteria 1.1.1, 1.3.1 and 3.3.2 level A and 2.4.6 level AA.

We plan to fix this issue as quickly as possible but at least by 31 December 2026.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Third party content that’s under someone else’s control

Pages and websites that are linked to and from this service may not be fully accessible. These include:

• our secure debit or credit card payment service
• instruction pages on GOV.UK

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We regularly look for opportunities to improve accessibility as we update services and new services developed as part of the One IPO Transformation programme will have accessibility built into them from the outset.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 10 December 2021.

This service was last tested on 30 November 2021 and was checked for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA. The test was carried out using in-house resources.