Accessibility Statement for the University of Edinburgh Design System website

Website accessibility statement inline with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

This accessibility statement applies to the University of Edinburgh Design System website:

https://design-system.ed.ac.uk/ 

This website is run by the Website and Communication Technologies team, Learning, Teaching and Web Directorate within Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to: 

• Zoom in up to 500% with reflow and without loss of content
• Using your browser settings, change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• Use the website without encountering any flashing, scrolling or moving text
• Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of Job Access with Speech (JAWS), NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) and VoiceOver)
• Navigate to most of the content by keyboard only
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software (including Dragon NaturallySpeaking)
• Use the website without encountering any time limits

We've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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:

• Some text size is small
• Some colour contrasts could be improved
• Spellcheck options are not offered in all browsers
• Tabbing via keyboard is not always logical and/or consistent, and does not always meet contrast focus requirements
• The website is not compatible with all mobile accessibility (iOS and Android) accessibility features

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille please contact the Information Services Helpline:

• Email: website.support@ed.ac.uk
• Address: Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh, EH3 9DR
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via contactSCOTLAND-BSL, the online BSL interpreting service  

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: 

• Email: website.support@ed.ac.uk
• Address: Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh, EH3 9DR
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via contactSCOTLAND-BSL, the online BSL interpreting service.  

We’ll 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:  

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) 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.  

The full guidelines are available at:

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria:  

• Not all non-text content has a text alternative.

         1.1.1 - Non text Content

• The way the content is presented affects its meaning, and a correct reading sequence is not programmatically determined.

         1.3.2 - Meaningful Sequence

• There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is small.

         1.4.3 - Contrast (Minimum)

• It is not always clear where the user has reached via keyboard navigation.

         2.4.7 - Focus Visible

• User errors are either not automatically detected or suggestions for correction are not given.

         3.3.3 - Error Suggestion

Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or a significant improvement, will be in place by December 2022.

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.

We do not currently believe that any content sits out with the content of the accessibility regulations.

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted. Where issues are within our direct control, we will work to provide improvements with each update or release, and aim for all items to be completed by December 2022.

While we are in the process of resolving these accessibility issues, or where we are unable, 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 16 May 2022. It was last reviewed on 22 September 2022. 

This website was last tested by the Learning, Teaching and Wed Services team as part of Information Services in May 2022 using the Microsoft Edge (101.0.1210.39), Mozilla Firefox (91.9.0esr) and Google Chrome (101.0.4951.64) browsers. Although Internet Explorer remains one of the most commonly used browsers by disabled people, specifically due to its accessibility features and compatibility with assistive technology, it is not supported by the Design System and therefore not compatible. For details on browser use, please refer to a UK government survey:

UK Government assistive technology browser survey.

However, Edge, Firefox and especially Chrome are considered the popular browsers when using a screenreader, as confirmed by current world-wide usage levels for different screen readers and browsers:

Most recent WebAim annual survey.

The aforementioned three browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety.

 We tested: 

• Spellcheck functionality
• Scaling using different resolutions and reflow
• Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour et. cetera)
• Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps
• Data validation
• Warning of links opening in a new tab or window
• Information conveyed in colour or sound only
• Flashing, moving or scrolling text
• Operability if JavaScript is disabled
• Use with screen reading software (for example, JAWS)
• Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, ZoomText, Dragon NaturallySpeaking)
• Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
• Time limits
• Use with inbuilt mobile screen reading software: iOS VoiceOver and Android TalkBack  and other mobile phone accessibility functionality
• Ability to view in portrait and landscape mode