National Rail is slammed for turning website grey in ‘mark of respect’ to Prince Philip

National Rail has been blasted for turning its website to grey while marking Prince Philip’s death because it left visually impaired users unable to read. 

The company wrote on Twitter this morning: ‘The National Rail website has been temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh. 

‘We are listening to feedback about how people are using the website and are making further changes today to make it more accessible to all our customers.’

The temporary design, which was removed by 10am and only lasted a few hours, made it difficult for readers who struggle with their eyesight to use the website.  

The company wrote on Twitter this morning: ‘The National Rail website has been temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh’

The decision by National Rail Enquiries (NRE) and individual train companies to remove colours from their websites goes beyond Government guidance for the period of national mourning, which only suggests organisations use ‘black edging or black banners’.

National Rail Enquiries’s Twitter account received a barrage of angry messages following the change.

Users described the decision as ‘utterly ridiculous’, and claimed it has made train timetables ‘extremely difficult to read’.

Others claimed the switch is in breach of disability discrimination laws.

In response to a passenger asking if there was a way for users to change the website back to normal, an NRE employee wrote: ‘Unfortunately, I do not believe there is currently’, adding: ‘I too have been struggling to read while it is coloured differently.’

The decision by National Rail Enquiries (NRE) and individual train companies to remove colours from their websites goes beyond Government guidance for the period of national mourning, which only suggests organisations use ‘black edging or black banners’

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group, which runs NRE, issued a statement which said: ‘The National Rail Enquiries website has been temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh on Friday.

‘We are listening to feedback about how people are using the website and are making further changes today to make it more accessible to all our customers.’

Robin Spinks, head of innovation at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said: ‘Good web design and adherence to inclusive design standards is a must for all digital content creators.

‘Appropriate colour contrast makes sense for every person accessing a website and is especially beneficial for people with sight loss.’ 

National Rail Enquiries’s Twitter account received a barrage of angry messages following the change

One Twitter user took to social media to point out that National Rail’s own website states: ‘The Equality Act 2020 places a legal duty on company to ensure that people with disabilities do not experience unreasonable difficulty in accessing services, including websites and other information provisions.

‘National Rail Enquiries takes the responsibility to ensure that people with disabilities can access information extremely seriously.’ 

Another user, Dr Alex Tankard, said: ‘How on earth does greying a timetable ”show respect” to ANYONE, let alone to someone whose family are *the least likely people on the planet* to actually use public transport???’

And another said: ‘As a mark of respect for Prince Philip, National Rail have made their employees unable to read the National Rail timetable.’ 

Editor of Today’s Railways Europe magazine, Keith Barrow, said: ‘This is just too much.  

‘A lot of people struggle with low contrast text – it would be good if the rail industry could pay its respects without needlessly discriminating against some of its customers.’

One Twitter user took to social media to point out that National Rail’s own website states: ‘The Equality Act 2020 places a legal duty on company to ensure that people with disabilities do not experience unreasonable difficulty in accessing services, including websites and other information provisions’

The Partially Sighted Society charity’s chief executive Anita Plant told the Evening Standard: ‘Having looked at the site I can see how people with sight loss will find this difficult for the following reasons — there are no accessibility options to increase the text size or change the colour contrast. 

‘Greyscale generally does not work for people with sight loss. Text needs to be clear black on white or black on yellow and preferably a non-serif font such as Arial.

‘The white text on the grey background is incredibly hard to see for someone with a visual impairment and having text on pictures is confusing and the images themselves are visually confusing.’

The website has now reinstated its normal full-colour design and includes a small tribute to Prince Philip from the chief executive of Rail Delivery Group. 

It reads: ‘It is with great sadness that the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has been announced. We send our condolences to the Royal Family.’ 

Network Rail instated a similar ‘tribute’ to Philip and seems to have mainly reverted the site back to full colour although certain pages still appear in greyscale. 

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which runs National Rail Enquiries, said: ‘The National Rail Enquiries website was temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh on Friday. 

‘We are listening to feedback about how people are using the website and have made further changes today to make it more accessible to all our customers.’ 

A Network Rail spokesman said: We temporarily made our website greyscale as a mark of respect following the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. 

‘We’ve been made aware this has caused problems for people accessing the content so it’s now back to its usual look. We’re sorry it’s caused issues and we thank everyone for their feedback.’