Accessibility statement

Published 31/08/2022.  Last updated 13/04/2023

This accessibility statement applies to the Education Scotland Beta website. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% 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 the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

How accessible this website is

We have 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.

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

  • some images do not have image descriptions
  • some videos do not have captions or transcripts available
  • text may not reflow properly when you change the size of the browser window
  • you cannot change the line height or spacing of text
  • some heading elements are not consistent
  • many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible

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 believe we are not meeting accessibility requirements please get in touch.

Enforcement procedure

Education Scotland is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) accessibility regulations.

If you are unhappy with how we respond to your feedback, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service. They are an independent advice service and can advise you on what to do next.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A and AA success criteria. This is due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  1. Images on some pages do not always have suitable image descriptions. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to information conveyed in images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
  2. Not all videos provide transcripts or captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded).
  3. While most content in videos is conveyed in the audio, some key contextual information about who the speaker is (their name and job title) is only communicated by text on the screen. This fails WCAG 1.2.3 and 1.2.5 videos missing audio or text description.
  4. Some content looks like headings but is not appropriately marked up. This makes it difficult for screen reader users to navigate the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  5. At high zoom and on mobile, the videos on the resource detail page do not reflow and part of the video is cut off. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.10 (Reflow).  

Disproportionate burden

Many of our older PDF, Word and PowerPoint documents do not meet accessibility standards, for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2. It would be a disproportionate burden to update all such documents, many of which are no longer in use.

We are continuing to review the documents that are published on the Education Scotland Beta website, removing old documents and updating those that are still in use. We are committed to ensuring that all future publications meet WCAG 2.1 standards. 

Some of our videos do not currently have transcription or captions available, these will be reviewed throughout the Beta phase of the site. All future audio-visual content will provide captions or a transcript to ensure that content is compliant with WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded).

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDF Documents

Accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDF or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. Any new documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Video captions

We do not plan to add captions to videos produced prior to September 2020 because these are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Social media

Some elements of our social media feed application are inaccessible due to poor contrast and unhelpful button labels, this fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2. This is third party content, and we are unable to amend this feature. Accessibility regulations do not apply to third-party content of this nature.

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 05 April 2023. It was last reviewed on 06 April 2023. This website was last tested on 30 March 2023. The test was carried out by Web Usability. A representative sample of pages from this site were reviewed. These were agreed with the project manager ahead of starting the audit. 

Ongoing internal reviews of this Beta website are being conducted, and we will continue to seek and deliver solutions to the limitations noted above. 

Site map

To assist navigation, please see our Site map.

Accessibility statement

Published 31/08/2022.  Last updated 13/04/2023

This accessibility statement applies to the Education Scotland Beta website. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% 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 the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

How accessible this website is

We have 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.

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

  • some images do not have image descriptions
  • some videos do not have captions or transcripts available
  • text may not reflow properly when you change the size of the browser window
  • you cannot change the line height or spacing of text
  • some heading elements are not consistent
  • many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible

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 believe we are not meeting accessibility requirements please get in touch.

Enforcement procedure

Education Scotland is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) accessibility regulations.

If you are unhappy with how we respond to your feedback, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service. They are an independent advice service and can advise you on what to do next.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A and AA success criteria. This is due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  1. Images on some pages do not always have suitable image descriptions. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to information conveyed in images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
  2. Not all videos provide transcripts or captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded).
  3. While most content in videos is conveyed in the audio, some key contextual information about who the speaker is (their name and job title) is only communicated by text on the screen. This fails WCAG 1.2.3 and 1.2.5 videos missing audio or text description.
  4. Some content looks like headings but is not appropriately marked up. This makes it difficult for screen reader users to navigate the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  5. At high zoom and on mobile, the videos on the resource detail page do not reflow and part of the video is cut off. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.10 (Reflow).  

Disproportionate burden

Many of our older PDF, Word and PowerPoint documents do not meet accessibility standards, for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2. It would be a disproportionate burden to update all such documents, many of which are no longer in use.

We are continuing to review the documents that are published on the Education Scotland Beta website, removing old documents and updating those that are still in use. We are committed to ensuring that all future publications meet WCAG 2.1 standards. 

Some of our videos do not currently have transcription or captions available, these will be reviewed throughout the Beta phase of the site. All future audio-visual content will provide captions or a transcript to ensure that content is compliant with WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded).

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDF Documents

Accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDF or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. Any new documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Video captions

We do not plan to add captions to videos produced prior to September 2020 because these are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Social media

Some elements of our social media feed application are inaccessible due to poor contrast and unhelpful button labels, this fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2. This is third party content, and we are unable to amend this feature. Accessibility regulations do not apply to third-party content of this nature.

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 05 April 2023. It was last reviewed on 06 April 2023. This website was last tested on 30 March 2023. The test was carried out by Web Usability. A representative sample of pages from this site were reviewed. These were agreed with the project manager ahead of starting the audit. 

Ongoing internal reviews of this Beta website are being conducted, and we will continue to seek and deliver solutions to the limitations noted above. 

Site map

To assist navigation, please see our Site map.