Accessibility Statement
This accessibility statement applies to content published on www.hrb.ie.
The Health Research Board (HRB) is committed to making its website and web content accessible, in accordance with European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020.
This statement was prepared on 17 May 2024 and last updated on 29 July 2026.
Compliance Status
We regularly engage with the National Disability Authority (NDA), which is the monitoring body for accessibility of public sector websites in Ireland. The website is subject to annual reviews by the NDA.
The HRB makes all reasonable efforts to meet or exceed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA requirements.
Documents
Except for some very old publications, HRB publications are freely available in hard or soft copy. Hard copies can be requested from the HRB via email at hrb@hrb.ie. You can also find specific contact information for different business units on the Contact us page.
Many documents on this site are only available to download in PDF format. You may need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open these on your computer. This software is available from the Adobe website: www.adobe.com.
Some documents on the HRB’s website do not fully comply with the European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020. These include:
- Some PDF documents, including publications and factsheets, lack the appropriate metadata to be fully compatible with screen-reading technology. Our team is reviewing the accessibility of PDFs and is working to improve compatibility with screen-reading technology.
Most documents can, however, be provided in alternative formats if required, though please note it may take some additional time to complete your request.
Video
Some pages include videos embedded from YouTube. The YouTube player is controlled by Google, and we cannot change its code. It currently has accessibility issues that do not meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards. For example, one button has no accessible name for screen reader users. We have reported these issues to Google.
All our videos have captions. You can also watch them directly on YouTube. If you have difficulty accessing any video content, contact us at communications@hrb.ie and we will provide it in an alternative format.
Images
Not all images on this website have photo (or meta-) descriptions. The HRB are working in an ongoing capacity to fix this issue.
Requesting Content
If you wish to request any HRB content in an accessible format, please get in touch, and include the following details in your email:
- The content you wish to receive (please include the URL of the content).
- Your required format.
- Your name and the address (physical or email) at which you want to receive the requested document.
Feedback and Contact Information
If you have any questions or feedback about the accessibility of our website, or our services in general, please feel free to contact us.
Our webmaster can be contacted at communications@hrb.ie.
All complaints will be dealt with in accordance with the HRB Customer Service Charter. If you are not happy with the HRB’s response then you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman under the Disability Act.