Accessibility Statement for the Art Collection website

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

This accessibility statement applies to https://collections.ed.ac.uk/art

This website is run by the Library and University Collections Directorate which is part of Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • using your browser settings, change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 400% 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
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of Job Access with Speech (JAWS), NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) and VoiceOver);
  • experience no time limits when using the site, and not encounter any flashing, scrolling or moving text.

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. 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:

  • not all colour contrasts meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard;
  • some body text is smaller than 12 point;
  • some images are oversized or blurry;
  • some links open in new windows or tabs without warning;
  • some content cannot be navigated to via keyboard;
  • there are instances of non-text content not containing alternative text;
  • there are instances of overlapping text when scaling the page or viewing in portrait mode via mobile;
  • the image carousel on the homepage does not have control buttons to pause or stop and the 'previous' and 'next' arrows are difficult to see;
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
  • there is no skip to main content function;
  • it can sometimes be hard to tell where you have navigated to using a keyboard;
  • some content is inaccessible using speech recognition software, including the image carousel buttons and collection record image zoom icons.

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: is-crc@ed.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0)131 650 8379
  • British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service: Contact Scotland BSL

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: is-crc@ed.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0)131 650 8379
  • British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service: Contact Scotland BSL

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 24 hours a day, 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.

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 version 2.1

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 2.1 AA success criteria:

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

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 stage we do not believe anything is out of scope of the regulations

What we're doing to improve accessibility

At this time, we believe all items are within our control. We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted to deliver a solution or suitable workaround. We are looking to move this site to a new content management system within the next 12 months and will be working to ensure this resolves the accessibility issues. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place for those items within our control by March 2024.

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.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 15th September 2021. It was last reviewed on 01 March 2023.

This website was first tested by the Digital Library & Development team on 15th September 2021 and last reviewed on 01 March 2023. The testing was initially carried out by The University of Edinburgh Library and University Collections Digital Library Development team using the automated Little Forest testing tool.

This website was last manually tested by the Digital Library team, Library and University Collections, University of Edinburgh in February 2023. This was primarily using Mozilla Firefox (91.7.1esr), Microsoft Edge (99.0.1150.55) and Google Chrome (99.0.4844.84), browsers for comparative purposes.

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 Little Forest then manual testing that included:

Manual Testing

we tested:

  • 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 a new tab or window;
  • Information conveyed in 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 NaturallySpeaking, 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, 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.