Accessibility
Real help for real life
We recognise every one of us is likely to experience life changing events at some point in our lives. At Yorkshire Building Society we are committed to supporting you through these times so you receive the right help to access our products and services. Simply let us know, so we can explore how to make things easier for you.
Here are some things we can help with:
YBS Services & Branch Accessibility
We are committed to helping all of our customers access our branches and services.
The following information may be useful to customers who are:
Blind & partially sighted customers
Correspondence
We can provide correspondence, marketing materials and literature in alternative formats such as Braille, large print and audio. We can also provide large print stationery for postal accounts. To let us know your requirements for these please call us on 0345 1200 872.
Once you have declared your requirements for literature in an alternative format, all future correspondence will be sent in that format (with the exception of mailings which can be provided upon request.)
Customer Care Kits
All YBS Branches and Agencies are equipped with a Customer Care Kit which provides tools to help our customers with sight and manual dexterity issues complete transactions more easily.
Our Branch Kits Contain:
- Large and small bar magnifiers – Doubles the height of the text without increasing the width
- Large and small sheet magnifiers – Used to magnify multiple lines of text making documents easier to follow
- Pens with soft firm grips – Allows easier use by people with limited grip
- Signature guide – used to help vision impaired people sign documents in the correct place
- Traditional magnifying lens - as preferred by some users
External organisations who may be able to help:
- Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) - www.rnib.org.uk
Money worries
If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments or think you may have in the future, please contact us as soon as possible. By discussing your circumstances with you, we may be able to offer help.
You may also want to try:
- Our online budget calculator - https://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/personal-budget-calculator/index.html
- Talking to MAT (Money Advice Trust) , who will be able to offer you free, independent advice. They have helped many people to find realistic and affordable ways to solve their debt problems - this is why we have chosen to work with them. You can call MAT direct on freephone 0808 808 4000, or find out more at www.nationaldebtline.org. If self-employed then call them direct on freephone 0800 197 6026 or find out more at www.businessdebtline.org.
Web Accessibility
Yorkshire Building Society recognises the importance of providing a website that can be used by the widest possible audience in a variety of ways.
Building a website which is accessible by everyone is our ongoing commitment.
General use of our website
Browser support
We recommend that you use the latest version of the following browsers:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge
- Mozilla Firefox
- Apple Safari (PC & Mac)
- Google Chrome
If you are using an older version of any of these browsers we recommend you upgrade to ensure you do not experience any browsing difficulties.
PDFs
In order to view and keep important information from our website it is important you have a PDF reader installed on your computer or browser.
If you do not already have one, click here to download Adobe Reader.
Scripting
JavaScript is used on our website in order to improve usability and experience.
All pages are still accessible if JavaScript is disabled or unavailable however there may be some limited functionality.
General help using your device
Making your mobile/tablet easier to use
Mobile devices have many accessibility features which may be useful to you.
You can explore these by visiting your device's accessibility settings:
Apple
- From the Home screen, go to settings
- Click General then select 'Accessibility'
Android
- Open your settings app
- Scroll down to and select 'Accessibility'
- Apple - www.apple.com/uk/accessibility
- Android - support.google.com/accessibility/android
Information for Blind customers
We are committed to providing our services to all customers. We aim to ensure that all relevant information is readable by screen readers including providing alt text for images which contain additional information.
If you are looking for help on getting your device to talk to you more information can be found by clicking the 'using peripherals' option above.
Visual options for partially sighted customers
The following information may, also, be helpful for partially sighted or visually impaired customers.
Changing text size in your web browser
Google Chrome
- Open Chrome
- Type chrome://settings/ into the address bar or click the more icon (three dots at the top right of the window) and select settings.
- Click on or scroll down to appearance where you'll see 'font size'
- Choose your preferred text size. This ranges from very small to very large, the default is medium.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Firefox
- Type about:preferences into the address bar or click the menu icon (three lines at the top right of the window) and select options.
- Scroll down to 'language and appearance' where you'll see 'fonts and colours'
- Choose your preferred text size. This ranges from point size 9 to point size 72, the default is 16.
Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge
- Open IE/Edge
- Right click with your mouse on the address bar and select 'menu bar' or press the 'Alt' key on your keyboard to load the menu bar.
- On the menu bar click view and select 'text size'.
- Choose your preferred text size. This ranges from smallest to largest, the default is medium.
In earlier versions of Internet Explorer 'text size' is found using the 'page' button.
Apple Safari
- Open Safari
- Click on the 'view' menu
- Hold down the 'option' key while you select 'Make Text Bigger or Make Text Smaller'
- You can also use keyboard shortcuts: To increase the font size, press Option-Command-Plus sign (+) and to decrease it, press Option-Command-Minus sign (-)
You can also change the text size on your computer or mobile device itself by using the 'ease of access' or 'accessibility' settings. For more information visit your device's support centre:
- Windows - support.microsoft.com
- Android - support.google.com/accessibility
- Apple/Mac - support.apple.com