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Work and income | Te Hiranga Tangata

Accessibility statement

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) wants to ensure our digital tools and services are usable for as many people as possible.

This website was designed with web accessibility in mind, meaning it:

  • enables disabled people to equally access, understand, use, contribute to, and take part on the web
  • helps to remove digital barriers to disabled people
  • benefits people without disabilities, promoting social inclusion for all.

Web accessibility refers to the inclusive design and development of websites, digital tools, and technologies.

How the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) supports accessibility and usability

We support accessibility by:

  • providing alternate formats when requested
  • including digital accessibility in our policies
  • training our staff in digital accessibility
  • checking our websites for issues, keeping track of issues, and fixing them
  • responding positively to accessibility complaints
  • working to meet the NZ Government Web Standards.

NZ Government Web Standardsexternal

Accessibility Charter

MSD has signed the Accessibility Charter as a commitment to providing accessible information to the public.

Accessibility Charterexternal

Meeting the NZ Government Web Standards

The NZ Government Web Standards, which include the Web Accessibility Standard and the Web Usability Standard, define our requirements for web accessibility.

NZ Government Web Accessibility Standard 1.2external

NZ Government Web Usability Standard 1.4 external

The Web Accessibility Standard requires meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. These are the standards and level that we are working to comply with.

Content that is not accessible

There are some known accessibility issues on this website.

Many PDFs have the following issues:

  • They cannot be filled out electronically. They need to be printed and completed manually.
  • The text colour does not have adequate contrast against the background colours.
  • Some content is either not tagged or tagged incorrectly, which may result in information being missed by screen reader users.

Some online forms have issues that may make them difficult to use with a keyboard or with a screen reader navigating in forms mode:

  • Content displayed in scrollable sections cannot be accessed by keyboard alone.
  • Form fields are not clearly labelled.

Issues with third-party products

This website uses third-party products that have known accessibility issues. Where possible, we work with product providers to improve their accessibility.

We encourage you to review the providers’ accessibility statements and give feedback on your experiences with these products.

Read our Privacy, disclaimer and copyright information together with this accessibility statement.

Privacy, disclaimer and copyright information

The Shielded Site known accessibility issues are:

  • Screen reader users may be able to navigate to content behind the Shielded Site pop-up while it is open.
  • The Shielded Site content may not display clearly enough when high contrast settings are used.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technologies

This website was designed to work with common browsers and assistive technologies. It has been tested with:

  • Safari with VoiceOver on iOS 26.5
  • Microsoft Edge 150.0.4078.65 and Chrome 150.0.7871.187 with JAWS 2024 on Windows 11
  • Microsoft Edge 150.0.4078.65 and Chrome 150.0.7871.187 with NVDA 2026.1.1 (2026.1.1.55980) on Windows 11
  • Microsoft Edge 150.0.4078.65 and Chrome 150.0.7871.187 with keyboard-only input on Windows 11.

We have not yet completed our testing against other standard assistive technologies.

Assessment approach

We last audited the accessibility of this website in August 2026 by:

  • evaluating selected pages against WCAG 2.2 at Level AA
  • testing selected pages with assistive technologies.

Contact us

Email us if you:

  • have any accessibility issues on this website
  • need information in alternate formats or in a different file format.

workandincome_onlineservices@msd.govt.nz

We aim to reply within 3 working days.

Alternate formats

We can provide information in alternate formats. You can ask for formats in:

  • easy read
  • New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)
  • Braille
  • audio
  • large print.

When you contact us, make sure your message includes:

  • the web page (URL) of the information you need
  • the alternate format you need, for example, braille.

Formal accessibility complaints

To make a formal complaint, follow the complaints information on our website.

Making a complaint

If you're not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can make a further complaint to the Human Rights Commission or the Ombudsman New Zealand.

Making a complaint (Human Rights Commission)external

Contact the Office of the Ombudsmanexternal

Approver of this statement

Digital Accessibility Team
Ministry of Social Development
Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora

Updated on

06 August 2026

Updated on

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