This Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) has launched a new-look website to host its series of mental health self-help guides.
With additional accessibility features, the new website features a modern, fresh look and feel, designed to enhance user experience and accessibility.
The self-help guides will now be accessible to as many people as possible.
The website is compliant with WCAG 2.2 guidelines, a triple AAA standard meaning it’s accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Someone with a disability must be able to experience web-based services, content and other digital products in the same way as those without disabilities.
Users can also interact with the guides directly on the website with the option to type into a guide and save their own personalised version. This feature allows individuals to tailor the content to their specific needs and preferences.
One in six of us will experience mental ill health at some point in our lives, with depression and anxiety being the most diagnosed. People need information that is clear, accurate, up-to-date and easy to use.
CNTW’s award-winning self-help guides cover a wide range of topics such as depression, anxiety, stress and problems with sleep. The guides offer the opportunity to find out more about the causes of mental health issues and provide tools to work through feelings and emotions.
The guides contain verified information and are written by NHS clinical psychologists with contributions from service users, and healthcare and voluntary sector staff.
Karen O’Rourke, Patient Information Centre Manager at CNTW, said: “We’re thrilled to launch the new website for our self-help guides. With information so freely available online, it can be hard for people to find high quality, accurate and up-to-date information.
“People can have confidence in reading our guides knowing they have been written with the help of NHS professionals, service users and carers, and that they are easier to access than ever before.
“We will all know someone who is struggling with their mental health, this could be a partner, family member, friend, colleague, or ourselves. By making our website more accessible, more people will be able to get the help and support they need.”
The new website is just one way the Trust makes information more accessible.
The self-help guides are also available in audio, British Sign Language and Easy Read.
Purchasing a self-help guide also supports the Trust charity. The SHINE Fund helps support people using CNTW services by providing the extra things that can make a real difference. The fund has supported service users with everything from horse riding trips to gardening tools, summer activities for young people, and even Christmas decorations for wards.