EUCLID accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for EUCLID.

Accessibility Statement for Euclid

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

This accessibility statement applies to: Euclid

This website is run by Student Systems 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 while retaining most functionality;
  • Magnify most of the content to 200%
  • Navigate to most of the content using keyboard only
  • Experience no flashing, scrolling or moving text
  • operate with mobile devices in both landscape and portrait modes;

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:

  • text-to-speech assistive technologies (including Job Access with Speech (JAWS) and NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA)) are not necessarily fully compatible with all browser configurations when using this system;
  • speech-to-text assistive software (for example, Dragon NaturallySpeaking) is not necessarily fully compatible with all browser configurations when using this website;
  • it is not possible to navigate throughout the whole site using a keyboard only in certain browsers;
  • keyboard navigation could be clearer in informing users where they have reached across all browsers and on all pages;
  • content does not reflow when magnified, meaning the user has to scroll horizontally as well as vertically;
  • Some pages cannot be magnified to 200%
  • colour contrasts do not necessarily meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard;
  • Headings are not always used or used appropriately
  • not all non-text content presented to users has alternative text;
  • pop-up windows open without warning;
  • tooltips do not appear consistently for the user across the system;
  • not all link purposes are clear to the user;
  • some parts of the website are not fully compatible with mobile accessibility functionality.
  • Some text size is very small
  • Some information is conveyed by colour only

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: studentsystems@ed.ac.uk
  • Post:  Registry Services, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, EH8 9YL
  • 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.

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: studentsystems@ed.ac.uk
  • Post: Registry Services, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, EH8 9YL
  • 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:

Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)

The UK 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

 

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 (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
  • The way the content is presented affects its meaning, and a correct reading sequence is not programmatically determined.
  • 1.3.2 - Meaningful Sequence
  • Colour is used as the sole means of indicating you are hovering over a link
  • 1.4.1 Use of Colour
  • There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is small.
  • 1.4.3 - Contrast (Minimum)
  • Not all text can be resized up to 200%
  • 1.4.4. Resize text
  • Content can not be presented without loss of information or functionality, and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions, over a threshold between 100% and 175%, and is also browser dependent
  • 1.4.10 - Reflow
  • Some tooltips do not appear consistently across the system.
  • Not all areas of the website can be operated via keyboard navigation.
  • 2.1.1 - Keyboard
  • Not every relevant page has a skip to main content and where this is in operation does not function as expected
  • 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks
  • The purpose of each link cannot be determined from the text alone.
  • 2.4.4 - Link Purpose (In Context)
  • Headings are not always used or used correctly
  • 2.4.6 Headings and Labels
  • Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio.
  • 2.4.7 - Focus Visible
  • Some items open in a pop-up browser window without warning.
  • 3.2.2 - On Input
  • Users are not alerted to all input errors and given a text description of how to resolve the issue.
  • 3.1.1. Error Notification
  • The site is not fully compatible with screen readers and voice recognition software.
  • 4.1.1 - Parsing
  • Screen readers and voice recognition software are not able to identify some parts of the page – some items are not labelled correctly
  • 4.1.2 - Name, Role, Value

 

Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or significant improvement, will be in place for those items within our control by December 2024.

 

By February 2024: As part of a Vue upgrade a number of accessibility improvements are being made:

 

This will come with a number of size and colour accessibility improvements.

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

We are not currently claiming that there is any content outwith the scope of the accessibility 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, either through delivery of a solution or a suitable workaround. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place for those items within our control by December 2024.

Whilst 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.

We will retest the system in 2024 against the new Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 A and AA standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 12th May 2023. It was last reviewed on 8th December 2023.

This website was first tested during March 2023 by the University of Edinburgh Disability Information Team, based within Information Services Group.

 

All manual testing involved using the Mozilla Firefox (78.11.0esr), Microsoft Edge (91.0.864.59) and Google Chrome (91.0.4471.124) browsers.

A recent world-wide usage level survey suggests that Chrome is the favoured browser for individuals using assistive software such as screen readers etc.

 

WebAIM: Screen Reader User Survey 2021.

 

We tested on a sample of pages we believed to be representative of the type of content across the site:

 

  • Spellcheck functionality;
  • Scaling using different resolutions and reflow;
  • Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour et. cetera);
  • 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 (JAWS; NVDA);
  • Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, Windows Magnifer, 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

The following improvements have been made since this statement was last published:

  • Added notifications to the registration tool to highlight that a new tab will open when clicking a hyperlink; - 3.2.2 On Input
  • Fix made to Direct Admissions to resolve a looping search and make keyboard navigation possible in these screens -2.1.1 Keyboard
  • A template for future development work has been implemented with improvements to accessibility. This includes an announcer, to let screen-reader users know what is happening on the page with audio. Developers will also be automatically told if they are writing knowingly inaccessible website components.