Accessibility of guidance
We understand that the fitness to practise process can be complex and difficult to navigate at times. We have lots of documents on our website explaining various parts of our fitness to practise processes. We also send documents directly to people involved in our investigations to give them information about what is happening at each stage.
We recently took part in the Open University’s Witness to Harm research project. As part of the project the accessibility of guidance on our website was reviewed, alongside that of other professional regulators.
While the accessibility of our guidance compared well with similar guidance produced by other regulators, the project recommendations for all regulators included a full review of fitness to practise correspondence and guidance.
We have completed our review with the aim of:
- avoiding long sentences of more than 25 words
- minimising the use of legal jargon
- being consistent in the use of language
- using bullet points wherever possible
- making sure all spelling, punctuation and grammar is correct
- only using comparisons where necessary and appropriate.
You can read the revised fitness to practise factsheets on our website.
Easy Read documents
We have also produced several fitness to practise documents in Easy Read format.
Easy Read documents usually combine short, jargon-free sentences with simple, clear images to help explain the content, which is normally factual in nature.
Easy Read documents are most often used by people with learning disabilities. They can also be useful for people:
- with a visual impairment
- who speak English as a second language
- who find it hard to read and write
- who have memory problems.
Read the guidance and factsheets
- Fitness to practise factsheets 15A and 15B provide information to witnesses about giving evidence at a Fitness to Practise Panel hearing.
Factsheet 15A for online hearings – Easy Read version
Factsheet 15B for in-person hearings – Easy Read version
- Fitness to practise factsheet 19 provides information on giving a witness statement as part of a fitness to practise investigation.
Factsheet 19 providing a witness statement – Easy Read version
Your input
We’re always keen to hear from you about how we can improve the accessibility of our guidance. If you have any suggestions for other information that could be made more accessible, or would like guidance produced in a different format, such as Easy Read, please contact us.