Accessibility
Last updated: 25 September 2025For accessibility information about visiting Parliament, please see the Planning Your Visit page.
We are committed to making this website accessible so it can be used by as many people as possible. This means that you should be able to do the following on most of the website:
- View content and controls easily including when you zoom in up to 400%
- Navigate using a keyboard or equivalent assistive technology
- Navigate using speech recognition technology
- Listen using screen reader technology
- View closed captions for most video content
We do not endorse any particular web browsers and aim to limit browser-specific features as far as possible.
What we're doing to improve accessibility
We aim to continually improve website content and functionality. To help ensure that we are meeting our accessibility goals, we:
- Provide staff training and encourage accessibility champions to promote digital accessibility best practise
- Include user stories for people with disabilities in our development and testing processes
- Consider accessibility requirements as part of our procurement for digital products
Requesting content in alternative format
If you need content in a format not available on the website, please email parliament.website@parliament.govt.nz with details of the content and format needed. We will try to provide this where possible.
Reporting problems with accessibility
We welcome feedback and would love to hear from you if you encounter any accessibility problems. Please email us at parliament.website@parliament.govt.nz.
Compliance and auditing
The website is tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 and is partially compliant. Some of the known non-compliant barriers to accessibility are listed below. We are working to make the website fully compliant, and this involves developing and testing new sections of the website as well as fixing issues on old sections.
In addition to internal testing, we regularly commission accessibility audits of selected parts of the website. These are carried out by external specialists who use automated testing tools and undertake manual testing with assistive technology. These audits provide us with recommendations for improving accessibility based on industry standards and best practise and help us to prioritise making the most impactful changes first.
Known accessibility barriers
Some of our website content is known to have barriers to accessibility for the following reasons:
- Some links are identified by colour alone
- Some controls do not have an accessible name (no programmatically linked label)
- Some images do not have alternative text
- Some Te Reo Māori is not marked up with language attribute
- Live streams of Select Committee hearings do not contain captions
- Some linked PDF documents lack good accessibility tag structure
We prioritise our work to fix accessibility issues based on the impact of the issue to users and analytics to help inform how much the content is engaged with. While we aim to fix all issues, this isn’t always possible. If you experience a barrier to accessibility and are happy to share your experience to help guide our improvement process, we would love to hear from you. Please see the section above on reporting problems with accessibility.
This policy applies to the two parliamentary agencies (the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives).
The parliamentary agencies recognise the importance of working alongside persons with disabilities to improve the accessibility of Parliament. The agencies will support persons with disabilities to access and participate in Parliament as citizens, workers, and members of Parliament.
A key concept in this policy is "reasonable accommodation", as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ratified by New Zealand, 26 September 2008).
Reasonable accommodation means "necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms." [Article 2]
The parliamentary agencies will adhere to the following principles:
Parliamentary proceedings and information about Parliament are accessible
- Members of Parliament with disabilities can access and participate in parliamentary proceedings;
- Identified barriers to the public’s participation in parliamentary proceedings are removed;
- Reasonable accommodation will be made for persons with disabilities to participate in parliamentary proceedings;
- Information about Parliament is made publicly available;
- The accessibility of information about Parliament is regularly reviewed and improved.
The parliamentary precincts are accessible
- The physical accessibility of the Parliamentary precinct is regularly reviewed and improved;
- Barriers to the physical accessibility of Parliament are identified and where possible progressively removed;
- Accessibility is a core consideration for future improvements and alterations to the parliamentary precincts.
Parliament is an accessible workplace
- The parliamentary agencies welcome job applications from all members of society, including from persons with disabilities;
- The agencies will ensure that no applicant or employee unjustifiably receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of disability;
Reasonable accommodation will be made for employees or preferred applicants with disabilities to allow them to perform their role.
At the Office of the Clerk and the Parliamentary Service, we are seeking to embed accessibility into everything we do. Accessibility is about providing inclusive environments, systems, and services that can be easily used by everyone – no matter their abilities or experiences.
When we talk about accessibility, people often think of ramps, carparks, or accessible toilets. While these are important to support people with physical disabilities, accessibility is so much more. It is the use of accessible or alternate formats (Braille, NZSL, Large Print, Easy Read and Audio Description), ensuring digital technology is accessible to all, and that everyday business as usual, is accessible.
As the support agencies behind Parliament, we are committed to accessibility which encompasses Parliament as an important public site, and a workplace for over a thousand people. Parliament represents all New Zealanders – of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities. It’s essential that everyone who engages with Parliament is able to do so – whether this is by visiting the Parliament buildings in Wellington, engaging with the democratic process, or following the proceedings of the House of Representatives and its committees.
Of equal importance is ensuring we have an inclusive workplace. The Office and the Service are dedicated to a workplace where our employees are valued and respected and feel supported to reach their full potential. We believe a work environment of equity and accessibility is critical in ensuring we can best support the work of Parliament.
To create a more accessible environment at Parliament, our work so far has focused on three equally important areas:
Initiatives to make the physical buildings of Parliament more accessible have included reviewing the accessibility of existing facilities such as installing mechanisms to automatically open heavy doors, temporary ramps and accessible bathrooms.
This work has included a large accessibility review of our existing digital platforms (such as website and intranet) and our documentation and computer applications. This has resulted in all staff having access to templates and guidance on formats to improve document accessibility.
We have implemented a number of initiatives to support staff in their day-to-day work. This has included:
-
Creating a Disabled Staff Network
-
Implementing bespoke accessibility related advice and training programmes
-
Creating an Accessibility Champions working group across both agencies
-
Public Accessibility initiatives also include improving access to information, access in and around the Debating Chamber, and providing for better accessible public engagement
-
Use of accessible formats on our channels such as captioning of videos, NZSL interpretation and documents in Braille
Our immediate work will focus on:
-
gaining a better understanding of the accessibility needs of our customers, visitors, building occupants and employees;
-
raising awareness of the barriers to full inclusion faced by people with disabilities and providing a way forward to improved accessible outcomes;
-
supporting initiatives for employment and career development for people with disabilities.
This is just the beginning - our mahi to make Parliament truly accessible will mean creating long-term, systematic change, and will be an endeavour we must all take part in. Alongside the staff of the Office and the Service, we look forward to continuing this work to ensure Parliament is accessible and inclusive for all people, of all abilities.
