Accessibility statement for the Wooclap Participant Interface

This accessibility statement applies to:

Wooclap

Wooclap is the University of Edinburgh’s centrally supported electronic voting system used to poll, interact, and engage with participants during a synchronous in-class online, or hybrid teaching activity or event. It is based on the commercial software application Wooclap, provided by Wooclap SA. The Participant interface is the part of the application that handles voting and participating in live events.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means you should be able to:

• Customise most of the colours using browser settings
• Use the application without encountering any cognitive function tests
• Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver) 

We’ve also made the application’s 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.

This service is often used to share content between staff and students which means documents and other inaccessible content can be uploaded.  This means it is important for us to ensure that helpful guidance and training is available to users who create content to minimise the risk of this.

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:

Information on SensusAccess

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• The application is not fully compatible with assistive software such as screen readers and voice recognition software.
• Elements do not all meet minimum contrast ratio requirements.
• Selection displays may lack contrast and are not consistent in design throughout the application.
• Heading levels are skipped on certain pages.
• General browser and mobile customisation compatibility could be improved.
• The application does not reflow to 400%.
• Not all content is reachable through keyboard-only navigation.
• There is not a skip to main content option.
• Mathematical content cannot be read out by screen readers.
• Certain links open in a new tab and pop ups open without alerting the user of this.
• The application does not properly support landscape mode on mobile.
• Not all images have alt text.
• Not all videos have human corrected transcripts and human corrected captions.
• Not all videos have audio description.
• Users may face time limits which they cannot adjust.
• Links sometimes lack hypertext and there are examples of naked URLs.
• Information is sometimes conveyed by colour only e.g., links not underlined.
• The application has some dragging movement required which is not possible by keyboard.

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:

• Information Services online contact form: Get Support Form
• Email: IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk
• Telephone:  0131 651 5151
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 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:

• Information Services online contact form: Get Support Form
• Email: IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk
• Telephone:  0131 651 5151
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 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.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
 

The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:

• Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation cannot be programmatically determined or are not available in text. e.g. <li> elements are found outside <ul> or <ol> elements and forms are missing appropriate labels.
  • 1.3.1 – Info and Relationships
• The application does not properly support landscape orientation.
  • 1.3.4 – Orientation
• Some information is displayed by colour only e.g. links.
  • 1.4.1 – Use of Color
• Some elements do not meet minimum contrast ratio thresholds, including focus indicators and error messages.
  • 1.4.3 – Contrast (Minimum)
  • 2.4.7 – Focus Visible
• Content does not consistently reflow up to 400%.
  • 1.4.10 – Reflow
• Not all content can be reached by keyboard only.
• 2.1.1 – Keyboard
• Users may face time limits which they cannot adjust.
  • 2.2.1 – Timing Adjustable
• There is no skip to main content functionality.
  • 2.4.1 – Bypass Blocks
• Some links are missing discernible text.
  • 2.4.4 – Link Purpose (In Context)
• Some heading levels are missed.
  • 2.4.6 – Headings and Labels
• It can be hard to identify where you have navigated to by keyboard.
• 2.4.7 – Focus Visible
• There is content that requires a dragging movement that does not have a keyboard alternative.
• 2.5.7 – Dragging Movements
• Links open in a new tab without alerting the user of this.
  • 3.2.2 – On Input
• Error messages are sometimes given as inaccessible pop ups.
• 3.3.1 – Error Identification
• Content is not robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies e.g., ARIA references are broken, select elements are missing an accessible name and there are nested interactive controls.
  • 4.1.2 – Name, Role, Value

Course staff upload teaching materials directly into Wooclap and it is not possible to guarantee it is accessible despite guidance being provided. For example:

• Not all images will have alternative text/descriptions.
  • 1.1.1 – Non-text content
• Not all media will have human corrected transcripts, human corrected captions and audio descriptions.
  • 1.2.1 – Audio only and video only prerecorded
  • 1.2.2 – Captions (Prerecorded)
  • 1.2.5 – Audio Description (Prerecorded)

We aim to improve the accessibility of our websites 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 February 2027 for those elements within our control. For those elements outwith our control we will continue to liaise with the supplier to seek resolution. There are no parts of application other than content added under 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 are working towards solving these problems and expect significant  improvements by February 2027 for those elements within our control. We will continue to work with the supplier, Wooclap SA, to address the accessibility issues highlighted and deliver a solution or suitable work around. As Wooclap is a third-party system provided by Wooclap SA, we have no ability to make changes ourselves, however we regularly report accessibility issues to the vendor.

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 6th February 2026. It was last reviewed on 27th February 2026.

The website was last tested on 30th January 2026. The testing was carried out by the Interactive Content Service within the Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods. The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Google Chrome alongside Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

A 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 browser extension (for Google Chrome) and then manual testing that included:

• Spell check functionality
• Scaling using different resolutions and reflow
• Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour, etc)
• Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps
• Data validation
• Warning of links opening in new tab or window
• Information conveyed in the colour or sound only
• Flashing, moving or scrolling text
• Use with screen reading software (for example JAWS)
• Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, Windows Magnifier, ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking, TalkBack and VoiceOver)
• Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
• Time limits
• Compatibility with mobile accessibility functionality (Android and iOS)
• Any drag functionality and alternatives
• Consistent help function
• No need to re-enter data already submitted
• Any cognitive tests.