Accessibility statement for Research Scotland

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

Research Scotland(https://research-scotland.ac.uk/) provides permanent access to digital research outputs from Scottish Government funded and affiliated research organisations. This service is hosted by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of Research Scotland.

Further developments are needed in order to deliver improved access to online collections for users to not just view but also engage with the University's content. This is especially pertinent in the current hybrid learning environment we find ourselves.  We want as many people as possible to be able to use “Research Scotland” For example, this means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • experience no time limits to content
  • magnify the content up to 200%
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • 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 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: 

  • Some non-text content does not have text alternatives
  • Some parts may not be fully compatible with screen readers
  • Some colour contrasts do not meet recommended guidance
  • The default language of each page may not be identified

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille please contact the website team by contacting us:

By using the IS Helpline online contact form:
IS Helpline contact form

Or phoning:
☎ +44 (0)131 651 5151

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re 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 let us know by contacting:

By using the IS Helpline online contact form:
IS Helpline contact form

Or phoning:
☎ +44 (0)131 651 5151

Or email:
Information.systems@ed.ac.uk

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 Scotland 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. 

British Sign Language Scotland service details

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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.

Non accessible content 
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. 
The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria :

The full guidelines are available at:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1

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 are not claiming any material is out of scope.

Information Services and accessibility
Information Services (IS) has further information on accessibility including assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and services IS provides for disabled users.
Assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and services IS provides for disabled users.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to work with our in house developers and the external host supplier to address these issues and deliver a solution or suitable workaround and correct issues directly where they are under our control.

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.
We plan to conduct manual testing and update the accessibility statement by March 2022.To plan to resolve the issues that are within our control by March 2022.
This statement was prepared on 18th January 2022. It was last reviewed on 18th January 2022. 
This website was last tested on 18th January 2022 The test was carried out by The University Library and University Collections Digital Library team using the automated LittleForest tool and manual testing.

We did not use sample pages for testing - all pages were run through LittleForest. 

Little Forrest claims it tests the following WCAG criteria either partially or wholly: 

WCAG 2.1A1.1.1Non-text Content
WCAG 2.1A1.2.1Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1A1.2.2Captions (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1A1.2.3Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1A1.3.1Info and Relationships
WCAG 2.1A1.3.2Meaningful Sequence
WCAG 2.1A1.3.3Sensory Characteristics
WCAG 2.1A1.4.1Use of Color
WCAG 2.1A1.4.2Audio Control
WCAG 2.1A2.1.1Keyboard
WCAG 2.1A2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap 
WCAG 2.1A2.2.1 Timing Adjustable
WCAG 2.1A2.2.2Pause, Stop, Hide
WCAG 2.1A2.3.1  Three Flashes or Below Threshold
WCAG 2.1A2.4.1 Bypass Blocks
WCAG 2.1A2.4.2 Page Titled
WCAG 2.1A2.4.3  Focus Order 
WCAG 2.1A2.4.2 Page Titled
WCAG 2.1A2.4.4   Link Purpose (In Context) 
WCAG 2.1A3.1.1Language of Page
WCAG 2.1A3.2.1On Focus
WCAG 2.1A3.2.2On Input
WCAG 2.1A3.3.1Error Identification
WCAG 2.1A3.3.1Error Identification
WCAG 2.1A3.3.2Labels or Instructions
WCAG 2.1A4.4.1Parsing
WCAG 2.1A4.4.2Name, Role, Value
WCAG 2.1AA1.2.4Captions (Live)
WCAG 2.1AA1.2.5Audio Description (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1AA1.4.3Contrast (Minimum)
WCAG 2.1AA1.4.4Resize Text
WCAG 2.1AA1.4.5Images of Text
WCAG 2.1AA2.4.5 Multiple Ways
WCAG 2.1AA2.4.6Headings and Labels
WCAG 2.1AA2.4.7Focus Visible
WCAG 2.1AA3.1.2Language of Parts
WCAG 2.1AA3.2.3Consistent Navigation
WCAG 2.1AA3.2.4Consistent Identification
WCAG 2.1AA3.3.3Error Suggestion
WCAG 2.1AA3.3.4Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data)
WCAG 2.1AA1.2.6Sign Language (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1AAA1.2.7Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1AAA1.2.8Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1AAA1.2.9Audio-only (Live) 
WCAG 2.1AAA1.4.6Contrast (Enhanced)
WCAG 2.1AAA1.4.7Low or No Background Audio
WCAG 2.1AAA1.4.8Visual Presentation
WCAG 2.1AAA1.4.9Images of Text (No Exception)
WCAG 2.1AAA2.1.3Keyboard (No Exception)
WCAG 2.1AAA2.2.3No Timing
WCAG 2.1AAA2.2.3No Timing
WCAG 2.1AAA2.2.4Interruptions 
WCAG 2.1AAA2.2.5Re-authenticating
WCAG 2.1AAA2.3.2Three Flashes
WCAG 2.1AAA2.4.8Location
WCAG 2.1AAA2.4.9Link Purpose (Link Only)
WCAG 2.1AAA2.4.10Section Headings
WCAG 2.1AAA3.1.3Unusual Words
WCAG 2.1AAA3.1.4Abbreviations
WCAG 2.1AAA3.1.5Reading
WCAG 2.1AAA3.1.6Pronunciation
WCAG 2.1AAA3.2.5Change on Request
WCAG 2.1AAA3.3.5Help
WCAG 2.1AAA3.3.6Error Prevention (All)
WCAG 2.1AA1.3.4Orientation
WCAG 2.1AAA1.3.5Identify Input Purpose
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