This accessibility statement applies to:
This website was designed by Katie Paterson Studio Ltd and is hosted by 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:
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:
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille please contact us:
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.
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 us:
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.
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
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.
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) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
The full guidelines are available at:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:
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.
Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or significant improvement, will be in place for those items within the University’s control by May 2025. We will continue to liaise with Katie Paterson’s Web team about the accessibility issues that are within their control and seek improvements.
We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.
Some content is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations, in particular, the interactive map.
It is unlikely that the map application fully accessible with all assistive technologies. However maps are currently not within the scope of the regulations.
There is a lot of additional information available in different formats including maps to download and information in the AccessAble - UoE app available for iOS and Android.
The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:
We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted to deliver a solution or suitable workaround. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place for those items within the Universities control by May 2025.
There are elements of the website that are out with the Universities control as the site was designed and created by the Katie Paterson Studio Ltd and we will continue to liaise around the resolution of the accessibility issues within their control.
However, 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 25th June 2024. It was last reviewed on 2nd July 2024.
The website was last tested on June 2024. The testing was carried out by the Library and University Collections Directorate which is part of 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 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 AXE and then manual testing that included: