Accessibility Statement for ThingLink

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

ThingLink accessibility statement in line with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to:

https://www.thinglink.com/ 

This website is run by Educational Design and Engagement, part of Information Services Group within the University of Edinburgh. The site enables educational designers to generate interactive teaching materials. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Change most colours and contrast levels
  • Magnify the site to 250% without loss of content
  • Use the site without encountering any cognitive function tests

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.

Customising the website

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

How accessible this website is

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

  • Alternative text is not present on all non-text content;
  • Some web addresses / URLs are not presented as meaningful hyperlinks;
  • Colour contrasts do not always meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA standard;
  • Reflow is not enabled up to 400% on all pages on the site
  • Some links open new tabs or browser windows without warning (e.g. Accessibility viewer);
  • Some areas of the platform are inaccessible to keyboard navigation;
  • There are keyboard traps
  • When navigating by keyboard it is not always clear where you have navigated to
  • Keyboard navigation does not always follow a logical order
  • There are examples of information conveyed by colour only, for example some links are not underlined by default
  • Skip to main content options are not available on every page
  • Some tasks involve the user having to use a dragging movement with the mouse e.g. Positioning tags;
  • The site is not fully compatible with screen readers
  • Some site headers are missing;
  • Some audio content may be missing captions or transcriptions;
  • Not all videos have human-corrected captions;
  • Not all videos have audio description where appropriate
  • Some video content may not be able to be stopped or started by the user;
  • Some content may operate with a time limit;
  • Contact details / Help are not displayed in a consistent location on every page

Feedback and contact information

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

  • Email: course-production-team@ed.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0)131 651 5151 (Helpline)
  • 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 in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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: course-production-team@ed.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0)131 651 5151 (Helpline)
  • 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 in 5 working days.

Enforcement procedure

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

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

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.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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.

Compliance Status

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

Non accessible content

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

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

We are aware of the large number of accessibility issues and many of these are outwith our control. We have been working proactively with the suppliers to get resolution dates for these with the majority to be fixed by December 2026 – more details can be seen in the section below “What we are doing to improve accessibility”

As mentioned, the site is not fully within our control. Of the areas detected as not fully compliant, the following are under the control of ThingLink:

These issues are being raised with the supplier and we regularly check in on the progress of fixing the issues. 

Where the issues are within our control and content related, we are providing training for staff on how to create accessible teaching materials and providing tools to make this easier. Only the content related issues are within our control, such as alternative text for images and captions for video/audio content.  We are working with staff across the University to provide training on creating accessible teaching content.

Disproportionate burden

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

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

At this time we believe no content is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations. 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

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 at the earliest opportunity and no later than December 2026 for issues within our control and content related by providing training for staff on how to create accessible teaching materials and providing tools to make this easier. Only the content related issues are within our control, such as alternative text for images and captions for video/audio content. We are working with staff across the University to provide training on creating accessible teaching content.

 For issues out with our control – these are being raised with the supplier and we will regularly check in on the progress of fixing the issues. ThingLink has advised us that more improvements are being rolled out to the Editor interface and content player. Broader improvements to colour and contrast settings for the site are also undergoing development and expected in 2026. We continue to provide feedback and review each product release to assist in timely accessibility orientated solutions. 

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.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 2 July 2024. It was last reviewed on 9 December 2025. 

The website was last tested on 8 December 2025. The testing was carried out by Micro-Credentials Team of the Digital Learning Applications and Media Section, within Learning Teaching and Web Division of Information Services 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:

  • Spell check functionality;
  • Scaling using different resolutions and reflow;
  • Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour, etc);
  • Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps;
  • 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 

Change Log

January 2025 

  • ThingLink have added alt text to interface elements including adding where appropriate ARIA labels – we are awaiting confirmation this issue has been fully resolved-   1.1.1 - Non Text Content, 4.1.2 Name Role Value However as users can add content without alt text we are leaving this as an error on our statement
  • ThingLink have edited some URL’s to be meaningful hypertext and we have been advised this is a work in progress - 2.4.4 - Link Purpose (In Context)
  • Thinglink has added audio alerts for screen reader users have been added to alert them that links will open pop ups or new browser tabs but there are no visual alerts - 3.2.2 - On Input
  • Thinglink have advised us they are making improvements to keyboard  navigation and these should be implemented by April 2025 - 2.1.1 - Keyboard Accessible but the system is still not keyboard accessible
  • ThingLink have added a skip to main content option to some pages but not all as of yet -2.4.1 Bypass Blocks so this remains an error

April 2025

  • ThingLink advised of changed priorities to their development roadmap.

September 2025

  • Compatibility with accessibility tools improved for
    • Focus trapping inside modal windows in the main UI
    • Tabs and Toggle components
    • Create Scene modal
  • Adjustments made to
    • Navigation
    • User Settings
    • Organization Settings
    • Support Widget

These improved overall handling but did not in all areas fully resolve accessibility concerns. Bugs reported following testing.

October 2025

  • Font size changes to relative sizes for better scalability
  • Add support for larger fonts in Saimaa (Platform engine), where UI fonts will adapt to browser settings (first stage limited to the main UI, with the Multimedia Editor and content player to follow).
  • Compatibility with high-contrast theme: when a user’s OS is set to use high-contrast colors, the main UI will automatically adjust its palette for improved legibility, with broader coverage planned later in the editor.

December 2025

  • Improvements planned for Editor interface and Content player

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