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Accessibility Statement for RACE.ED

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

This accessibility statement applies to https://www.race.ed.ac.uk/ 

This website is run by the Communications and Engagement team in the School of Social and Political Science on behalf of 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:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • experience no time limit upon use

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:

  • It may be difficult to use this site with screen readers
  • access all content may not be possible by using the keyboard alone, with the point of navigation not immediately clear
  • some non-text content does not have text alternatives
  • italics is used in referencing
  • not all colour contrasts meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard
  • formatting of the pages differs when using Internet Explorer, and other browsers load some sections of the website differently

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille, please contact the SPS Communications and Engagement Team:

We will consider your request and get back to you within 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 the SPS Communications and Engagement Team:

We will consider your request and get back to you within 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
contactSCOTLAND-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 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
contactSCOTLAND-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.

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:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard

Non-accessible content

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

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

  • Not all non-text content presented to users has alternative text
    1.1 – Non-text Content
  • There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is very small
    4.3 – Contrast (Minimum)
  • The way the content is presented affects its meaning, and a correct reading sequence is not programmatically determined.
    3.2 Meaningful Sequence
  • Information is conveyed as an image of text rather than as text itself, making it not compatible with screen readers and other assistive technology
    4.5 – Images of text
  • Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio
    4.11 – Non-text contrast
  • Tooltips are not present for all icons and images
    4.13 – Content on Hover or Focus
  • It is not always clear to tell where you have navigated to when you are using a keyboard
    4.7 Focus Visible
  • Changes of context are not initiated only by user request and there is no mechanism available to turn off such changes.
    2.5 Change on Request
  • Help information is not displayed
    3.5 – Help

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 the time of writing, we are not aware of any content that is not out with the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility 

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted. Where issues are within our direct control, we will work to provide a significant improvement by December 2020 and aim to resolve all issues by June 2021. We will prioritise the issues we have identified with the use of keyboard navigation and with the use of Screen Readers with the aim of resolving these as quickly as possible.

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 8th July 2020. It was last updated on 9th July 2020.

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This website was last manually tested in June 2020 by the University of Edinburgh’s Deputy Disability Information Officer, primarily using the Internet Explorer browser (11.0.9600.19236) alongside Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge for comparative purposes. Internet Explorer was chosen due to it being the most commonly used browser by disabled people, alongside its accessibility features and compatibility with assistive technology, as shown in a UK government survey: the Government Assistive Technology Browser Survey. Automated testing, using WAVE WebAim and the Little Forest web governance service, was also undertaken to supplement the findings.

We tested:

  • Spellcheck functionality
  • Scaling using different resolutions
  • Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour et. cetera)
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Data validation
  • Warning of links opening in a new tab or window
  • Information conveyed in colour or sound only
  • Flashing or scrolling text
  • Operability if JavaScript is disabled
  • Use with screen reading software (eg. JAWS)
  • Assistive Software (TextHelp Read and Write, ZoomText)
  • Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
  • Time limits

Accessibility statement

Photo credits

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Created by the SSPS Communications and Engagement team

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