Accessibility statement for Library Blogs

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

This accessibility statement applies to https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/

This site gives access to a variety of University of Edinburgh Library affiliated blogs covering library activity, collections, projects and exhibitions.

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

• use browser settings, to change most colours, contrast levels and fonts;
• zoom in up to 400%
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
• experience no time limits when using the site

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

Customising the website

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

AbilityNet – My computer my way

With a few simple steps you can customise the appearance of our website to make it easier to read and navigate.

Additional information on how to customise our website appearance

If you are a member of the University staff or a student you can use the free Sensus Access accessible document conversion service.

SenusAccess Information

How accessible this website is

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

• Not all areas meet colour contract requirements
• There is no ‘skip to main content’ option
• Not all links have meaningful hypertext
• Users are not alerted when links open new browser tabs
• Not all images have meaningful alt text
• Reflow is not operational above 175%
• All movement cannot be paused by end user
• It is not always clear where a user has tabbed too when using keyboard navigation.

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: services@ed.ac.uk
• telephone : 0131 651 5151
• Online contact form
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service.

We will 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: services@ed.ac.uk
• telephone : 0131 651 5151
• Online contact form
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service.

We will 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 8am to 12 midnight, 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 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 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 images have meaningful alt text

1.1 Non-text Content

• Colour is used a sole method to communicate information

4.1 Use of Colour

• Colour Contrast

4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

• Not all pages have reflow up to 200%

4.10 Reflow

• Ensure all movement can be paused by end user

2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide

• There is no ‘skip to main content’ option available

4.1 Bypass Blocks

• Not all links have meaningful hypertext

4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

• Users navigating by keyboard may struggle to see where they have navigated to on the page

4.7 Focus Visible

• New browser tabs open without notifying the user

2.2 On Input

At this time, we believe all items are within our control. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or significant improvement, will be in place will be in place by August 2024.

Disproportionate burden

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

Content that is not within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations

At this time we believe all content is within the scope of the regulations

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to work with our in house developers to address these issues and deliver a solution or suitable workaround and correct issues directly.

We will continue to monitor accessibility and will carry out further accessibility testing if significant changes are made to the user interface or if a service user raises an issue or as part of our yearly monitoring. At this time, we believe all items are within our control. We plan to resolve the issues by August 2024. Where we are unable to resolve an issue we will ensure reasonable adjustments are put in place to ensure no user is disadvantaged.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 5^th Sept 2023.  It was last reviewed on 5^th Sept 2023

This website was last tested by the Library and University Collections Digital Library team, University of Edinburgh in April 2023 using automated and manual methods The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Microsoft Edge (103.0.1264.37) alongside Mozilla Firefox (91.9.1esr) 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 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;
• Operability if JavaScript is disabled;
• 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).

Change Log

Since our first evaluation and statement in 2022, which was based on automated testing, we have undertaken extensive manual testing. This includes utilising a range of assistive technology to ensure we have a clear picture of the accessibility issues and how best to resolve them.