Accessibility statement for Collaborate

This accessibility statement applies to the Collaborate application as used at the University of Edinburgh.

This application is run by the University of Edinburgh using the third-party system Collaborate. Collaborate has been developed by Class Technologies Inc. Utilising interactive whiteboarding, chronological hand-raise notifications, extensive chat features, on-demand polls, moderated breakout groups, and more, educators foster innovative student collaboration.

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

• Customise the application using browser settings
• Use the application without encountering any cognitive function tests 
• Navigate most of the application using speech recognition software e.g. Dragon  

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.

Customising the application

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 application 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 application is

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

• Some elements do not meet minimum contrast ratio requirements
• The application is not fully compatible with screen readers and other assistive software 
• Some touch targets are too small
• Error messages may appear in pop ups without warning
• Reflow is not enabled to 400%
• Some content cannot be reached by keyboard alone
• Content does not always follow a logical order
• It is not always clear where you have navigated to by keyboard 
• Users can become seemingly trapped inside navigation panels when navigating by keyboard
• Zooming and scaling may be disabled
• Some buttons lack discernible text
• The application’s content is obscured in certain cases
• Landscape orientation is not full supported by the application
• Headings are not always used appropriately or meaningfully
• Users can submit forms without being alerted this will happen
• Input instructions and data validation messages are sometimes unclear

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this application 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 in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this application

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this application. 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 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:

• Not all non-text items have alternative text.
  • 1.1.1. – Non Text Content
• Some audiovisual content (live or prerecorded) is missing captions, transcripts, or audio description.
  • 1.2.2 – Captions (Prerecorded)
  • 1.2.3 – Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
  • 1.2.5 – Audio Description (Prerecorded)
• Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text e.g. <li> elements are not contained in a <ul> or <ol>; <ul> and <ol> and do not only directly contain <li>, <script> or <template> elements
  • 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
• Landscape orientation is not always functional on mobile devices.
  • 1.3.4 – Orientation
• Links are not underlined by default, meaning information is conveyed by colour only
  • 1.4.1 – Use of Color
• Not all colour contrasts meet necessary contrast ratios
  • 1.4.3 – Contrast (Minimum)
• Zooming and scaling are sometimes disabled.
  • 1.4.4 – Resize Text
• The application does not reflow up to 400% magnification without two-dimensional scrollbars appearing or content disappearing or overlapping
  • 1.4.10 – Reflow
• Not all content can be reached by keyboard
  • 2.1.1 Keyboard  
• There is a keyboard trap
  • 2.1.2 Keyboard Trap
• The keyboard focus does not always move around the page in a logical order.
  • 2.4.3 – Focus Order
  • 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence
• Headings are not consistently used appropriately or meaningfully
  • 2.4.6 – Headings and Labels
• The keyboard focus lacks a WCAG 2.2 AA-level contrast ratio with certain elements.
  • 2.4.7 – Focus Visible
  • 1.4.3 – Contrast (Minimum)
• Some content is obscured by other content
  • 2.4.11 Focus not obscured minimum
• Some touch targets are smaller than 24px large or leave insufficient space.
  • 2.5.8 – Target Size (Minimum)
• Error messages may appear in pop ups without alerting the user of this and some forms are submitted without the user being alerted
  • 3.2.2 – On Input
• Error messages may give minimal guidance when enough information is known about the error to allow more detailed instructions to be provided.
  • 3.3.3 – Error Suggestion
• Not all content may be robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. For example, invalid and prohibited ARIA attributes are used, buttons lack discernible text and not all ARIA attributes conform to valid values.
  • 4.1.2 – Name, Role, Value

Students and staff upload content directly into Collaborate and it is not possible to guarantee it is accessible despite guidance being provided. For example: 

• Not all images may have alternative text / descriptions. 
  • 1.1.1 – Non Text Content 
• Not all media may have human-corrected transcripts, captions, and audio descriptions. 
  • 1.2.1 – Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)  
  • 1.2.2 – Captions (Prerecorded)  
  • 1.2.5 – Audio Description (Prerecorded)  
• Some information is conveyed by colour alone 
  • 1.4.1 – Use of Color 
• Some text may be as presented as an image.  
  • 1.4.5 – Images of Text  
• There may be moving or flashing content the end user cannot pause 
  • 2.2.2 – Pause, Stop, Hide 
  • 2.3.1 – Three Flashes or Below Threshold 
• Links may not be formatted with meaningful hypertext 
  • 2.4.4 – Link Purpose (In Context) 
• Some heading levels may be skipped 
  • 2.4.6 – Headings and Labels 

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 September 2027 for the elements within our control. For the elements outwith our control we will continue to liaise with the supplier to seek resolution. There are no parts of the application other than content added under our control. 

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 are working towards solving these problems and expect significant improvements by September 2027. We will continue to work with the supplier, Class Technologies Inc., to address the accessibility issues highlighted and deliver a solution or suitable workaround. As Collaborate is a third-party system provided by Class Technologies Inc., we have no ability to make changes for those issues which relate to the platform itself.

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 14 September 2026. It was last reviewed on  12 October  2026.

The application was last tested on 31 August 2028. 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 Microsoft Edge alongside Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Recent worldwide 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 AXE (Google Chrome extension) 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.

Change log