Website accessibility statement inline with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018
This accessibility statement applies to:
This website is run by the Library and University Collections Directorate which is part of Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means you should be able to:
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. This is an external site with suggestions to make your computer more accessible:
AbilityNet - My Computer My Way
With a few simple steps you can customise the appearance of our website using your browser settings to make it easier to read and navigate:
Additional information on how to customise our website appearance
If you are a member of University staff or a student, you can use the free SensusAccess accessible document conversion service:
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page, or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact:
We will consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) directly:
Contact details for the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)
The government has produced information on how to report accessibility issues:
Reporting an accessibility problem on a public sector website
British Sign Language service
Contact Scotland BSL runs a service for British Sign Language users and all of Scotland’s public bodies using video relay. This enables sign language users to contact public bodies and vice versa. The service operates from 8.00am to 12.00am, 7 days a week.
Contact Scotland BSL service details.
The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its websites and applications accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
The full guidelines are available at:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:
Not all non-text items have alternative text
Some video content does not have transcript present
There is no audio description provided for audio-visual content
Keyboards tabbing does not follow a logical order
The site has functionality issues in portrait mode
Some hyperlinks, infographics and charts are conveyed with colour only
There were colour contrast issues
Readability of the content is affected when site is magnified beyond 175%
Some items are examples of text as an image and do not contain the appropriate alternative text
Reflow is not operational till 400%
Tooltips are not accessible by keyboard or assistive software
Not all content can be reached by keyboard
There is some moving content which cannot be paused or start playing automatically
No skip to main content button is enabled on some pages of the site
Keyboard navigation does not always follow a logical order
Some links do not contain meaningful hypertext to inform the user of their target location
The focus indicator is not clearly visible
There are elements which need dragging with no alternative mechanism to operate
Some hyperlinks open link in new tab/window, and some popups do not alert the user this will happen
Help is not located in a consistent location on each page
The website is not fully compatible with assistive software as not all items are coded correctly
Not all PDF documents are fully accessible
We aim to improve our websites accessibility on a regular and continuous basis. See the section below ('What we're doing to improve accessibility') on how we are improving our site accessibility.
We are working towards solving these problems and expect significant improvements by November 2025. The site is fully within our control.
We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.
At this time we believe no content is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations.
We will continue to address and make significant improvements to the accessibility issues highlighted. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place by November 2025.
While we are in the process of resolving these accessibility issues we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged. As changes are made, we will continue to review accessibility and retest the accessibility of this website.
This statement was prepared on 23rd September 2020. It was last reviewed on 12th December 2024.
The website was last tested on December 2024. The testing was carried out by the Library and University Collections Directorate which is part of Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods. The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Microsoft Edge alongside Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
Recent world-wide usage levels survey for different screen readers and browsers shows that Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are increasing in popularity and Google Chrome is now the favoured browser for screen readers:
WebAIM: Screen Reader User Survey
The aforementioned three browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety.
We ran automated testing using WAVE WebAIM and AXE and then manual testing that included: