Accessibility statement

Overview

This accessibility statement applies to startuploans.co.uk.

British Business Bank is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We are working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so follow many of the available standards and guidelines.

We also routinely check web pages, when updates are made to existing pages and when new pages are published – to ensure that they meet accessibility requirements.

Whilst we work to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, there are always enhancements that we can make and we are constantly looking at how we can provide an accessible experience for everyone. We are always happy to listen to suggestions and open to improvements. Please use [email protected] to talk about accessibility with one of our team.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

British Business Bank 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 being measured against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard.

In February 2025, the website startuploans.co.uk was reviewed independently by the RNIB to test for accessibility defects. The result of that review is detailed below:

Missing accessible alternative for on-screen text in videos 

• Start Up Loans are committed to reviewing its video content and putting remedial action in place to ensure an accessible alternative for on-screen text in videos is available.

Low/missing focus highlighting 

• Start Up Loans have identified that some FAQ components are using an old, inaccessible version of the design. We are committed to ensuring that the relevant development work takes place to resolve this issue.

Use of placeholder text 

• It has been identified that the search functionality on our website still displays placeholder text once a search has been completed. We've been advised that this should be removed and we are committed to ensuring that this recommendation is carried out.

Drop down menus expanded by spacebar only 

• Whilst the main website navigation is technically keyboard accessible, it has been advised that further enhancements can be carried out by ensuring that the drop-down menus can also be opened by using the enter key. We are committed to ensuring that this recommendation is carried out.

Disproportionate burden

Pardot - embedded forms

The website is currently using Pardot to capture information from customers via its newsletter sign-up form, which isn't fully accessible. Our aim is to replace this technology with an accessible equivalent.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are working continuously to ensure that the number of non-compliant issues remains minimal on our sites and we are committed to fixing any new issues as they arise.

This includes weekly or more frequent reviews to identify accessibility issues, correct source code errors and manually edit website elements to adhere to WCAG2.2 standards.

We are also committed to continuously educating all staff to be aware of website accessibility guidelines to ensure maximum compliance when new content is added to our websites.

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

Issues with PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be marked up so that they’re accessible to a screen reader. The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. However, should you require an accessible version of any of our content, please contact us at [email protected].

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information in a different format contact us and tell us:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your name and email address and the format you need

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting the accessibility requirements, you may contact us on [email protected]

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission 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).

How we tested this website

This website was and is currently being tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, and these tests are being carried out weekly using a Digital Quality Management platform. We also run on request audits with our third party accessibilty partner, RNIB.

This statement was prepared on 19th August 2020. It was last updated on 18th February 2025.