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Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to The National Lottery Community Fund (the Fund) website at https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk.

This website is run and maintained by the Fund. Whatever your needs or abilities, you can expect equal access when applying for our funding. We're happy to give you extra support if you need it. For example, you might need information in a different way, or may need extra time when talking to us.

On our website, you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts

  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen

  • navigate using just a keyboard

  • navigate 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 tried to make the website content easy to understand.

The AbilityNet website has advice on how to make your device easier to use if you're disabled.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

  • some of our application forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, you can contact us. For example, we can provide information in an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

We aim to respond in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of the website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page, or think this website is not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us.

To help us understand and solve the problem, try to include as much as you can of the information described at Contacting Organisations about Inaccessible Websites.

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. If you're not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

If you're in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland who are responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 in Northern Ireland.

Contacting us by phone

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment. You can contact us on:

  • 18001 plus 0345 410 2030 (England)

  • 18001 plus 028 9055 1431 (Northern Ireland)

  • 18001 plus 0300 123 7110 (Scotland)

  • 18001 plus 0300 1230735 (Wales)

  • 18001 plus 0345 410 2030 (for projects that work across the UK)

BSL users can contact us using:

Technical information about this website's accessibility

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

Compliance status

The Fund website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 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

  • Some audio and video content does not have captions or transcripts. If a transcript is not available when new audio or video content is published, we aim to add one as soon as possible afterwards. We're currently creating transcripts of older content. This fails WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (A), 1.2.3 Audio Descriptions and Media Alternatives (A), and 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions (AA).

  • There are decorative images on the website that are audibly announced to users with screen readers. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 non-text content (A).

  • Some links are hidden for users with screen readers on the website. This means that these users will not get the same content as other users. This can lead to users with screen readers missing some of the context of the page. This fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 name, role, value (A).

Non-accessible documents

Many of our documents are published in non-HTML formats, such as PDF, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word documents. These documents are not always fully accessible and may present difficulties for people using assistive technologies.

Some documents published on our website are provided by third parties. Where possible, we work with content owners to improve accessibility; however, we may not always be able to make these documents fully compliant with accessibility standards.

We are committed to improving the accessibility of our documents and are working to replace inaccessible documents with accessible alternatives where appropriate. If you need information from a PDF, Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word document in an alternative format, please contact us and we will provide an accessible version wherever possible.

Non-accessible Microsoft Excel documents

Some Excel documents hosted on our website:

  • contain insufficient colour contrast between text and background. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA)

  • use colour alone to convey information or instructions. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.1 Use of Color (A) and 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A)

  • include merged or split headers within complex tables. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

  • include tables that are not semantically marked or lack semantic header rows or columns. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

  • include tables, fields and worksheets that lack meaningful headings or labels. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA), and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (AA)

  • contain text boxes which may not appear in the correct reading order or focus order. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) and 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A)

  • contain instructions that rely solely on sensory characteristics, such as visual location or colour. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (A)

  • contain worksheets that are blank or have non-descriptive names. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (A)

  • contain empty rows or columns used for visual layout purposes only, which could disrupt navigation for assistive technology users. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

Non-accessible Microsoft Word documents

Some Word documents hosted on our website:

  • include images with missing alternative text, or do not provide a suitable equivalent description of the image's purpose or content. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A)

  • do not contain a meaningful title in the document properties. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (A)

  • lack semantic heading structures. This fails WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

  • are not set to the correct default language (Welsh documents set to English). This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page (A)

  • include tables that lack meaningful headers or labels. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA) and 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

  • include merged, split or nested sections within complex tables. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

  • contain insufficient colour contrast between text and background. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA)

Third party systems

We use third party systems developed by external suppliers. These systems are partly or wholly outside our control. We cannot guarantee these systems will be accessible.

Our third party systems:

Third party content

Our website contains third party content. We cannot guarantee the content will be accessible.

Microsoft Forms

  • aria roles do not contain the appropriate required roles. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A)

  • error messages are not read by screen readers or other assistive technologies. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), WCAG 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (AA), and WCAG 4.1.3 Status Messages (AA)

  • the colour of forms fields, buttons, and validation messages does not meet the minimum colour contrast requirements in relation to the background. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA)

  • the calendar icon cannot be accessed using only the keyboard. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (A)

  • fields do not identify what their purpose is programmatically. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (AA)

  • image alternative text is not present. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A)

  • assistive technology can not identify the languages used within a page. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.1.2 Language of Parts (AA)

  • the line height is less than 1.5 times the font size. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.12 Text Spacing (AA)

  • content is not presented in a logical, meaningful order. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A)

  • the focus indicator is hard to see, making it difficult for keyboard users to track their navigation. This fails WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA)

  • labels are not programmatically associated with form controls. This fails WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A)

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.

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

PDFs and other documents

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they're not essential to providing our services.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Where possible, we try to test our services with a representative range of users, including disabled people.

We also test components to ensure they work with a range of browsers, devices and assistive technologies. This includes screen magnifiers, screen readers and speech recognition tools.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 3 September 2025. It was last reviewed on 2 September 2026.

This website was last tested on 3 September 2025 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. This test of a representative sample of pages was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC).

We also used findings from our own testing when preparing this accessibility statement.