Accessibility statement

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

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

This website is run by the Online Learning Team Educational Design and Engagement, Learning Teaching and Web (LTW) Directorate, 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 350% without the text spilling off the screen;
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard;
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including ChromeVox)
• use the website without encountering any time limits.

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

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

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

• audio description is not included for all video;
• screenreader use is inconsistent on some pages, whereby headings and heading levels are sometimes skipped;
• some content can not be presented without loss of information when magnified to the maximum browser level;
• reflow is not always suitable at high magnifications (375% and above);
• there are instances of non-text content without alternative text;
• assistive technologies do not always summarise the meaning of page contents on every page;
• not all colour contrasts meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard;

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:

• email online.learning@ed.ac.uk
• telephone - due to Covid-19 we are working outside the office. As soon as we are back in the office and able to add a phone number we will add one here.
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via contactSCOTLAND-BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service.

We will 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:

• email online.learning@ed.ac.uk
• telephone - due to Covid-19 we are working outside the office. As soon as we are back in the office and able to add a phone number we will add one here.
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via contactSCOTLAND-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

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

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 to not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria:

• Not all non-text content presented to users has alternative text
  • 1.1.1 - Non-text Content
• Audio description is not provided for all prerecorded video.
  • 1.2.5 - Audio Description (Prerecorded)
• There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is small
  • 1.4.3 - Contrast (Minimum)
• Text can not always be resized without use of assistive technology
  • 1.4.4 - Resize text
• Content can not be presented in full without loss of information or functionality
  • 1.4.10 - Reflow
• Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio
  • 1.4.11 - Non-text contrast
• Not all headings and labels necessarily describe the page topic or purpose
  • 2.4.6 - Headings and Labels
• Screenreader use is inconsistent on some pages, meaning headings and heading levels are sometimes missed
  • 4.1.3 - Status Messages

Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or significant improvement, will be in place for those items within our control by April 2022.

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

At this time, we do not believe that any content is outside the scope of the accessibility regulations.

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 our control by April 2022.

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 9th December 2020. It was last reviewed on 23rd July 2023.

This website was last tested by the LTW Web Development Team colleagues in December 2020, A range of browsers were used in testing, including Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer and especially Google Chrome. The variety and range of browsers helped identify different user experiences, as confirmed by current world-wide usage levels:

Most recent WebAim annual survey.

Automated testing via WAVE WebAim helped supplement our review findings.

We tested:

• Spellcheck functionality

• Scaling using different resolutions and reflow

• Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour et. cetera)

• Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps

• Warning of links opening in a new tab or window

• Use with screen reading software (for example, ChromeVox)

• Time limits