Accessibility statement for www.scottishhumanrights.com

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is committed to making its website  www.scottishhumanrights.com as accessible as possible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to www.scottishhumanrights.com and the microsites http://eqhria.scottishhumanrights.com/ and http://careaboutrights.scottishhumanrights.com/.

This website is run by the Scottish Human Rights Commission. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means that you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard or speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).
  • listen to the content of each page using the built in ReachDeck text-to-speech software

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

AbilityNet (http://mcmw.abilitynet.org.uk) has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. 

How accessible this website is

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

  • The UK Government’s Digital Service carried out an accessibility audit on this website on 5 September 2023, against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA The report found that our site was partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA standards but some things were not fully accessible. We have fixed the majority of those issues, however, we are still working on some of our PDF content, making sure that all the tools are available within the ReachDeck bar, and ensuring there are no focusable links within the navigation bar. 

  • Some PDF documents may not be fully accessible to screen reader software. This may particularly affect those published before 23 September 2018. You can request an accessible version or alternative format of any PDF by contacting us.

  • We have commissioned a full accessibility audit of our website and will create a plan to remedy further issues. In the meantime, if you have any difficulty accessing information on the site please contact us at hello@scottishhumanrights.com. 

  • This website uses ReachDeck accessibility software. This adds speech, reading and translation support tools to our online content. It works on all major browsers and platforms, including mobile phones and tablets. Access the ReachDeck toolbar by clicking on the ReachDeck widget. This is a blue circle surrounding a white figure which sits on the bottom right hand corner of our website pages. 

  • The ReachDeck toolbar is designed to aid viewing on a mobile.  For this reason,  at 200 per cent and 400 per cent zoom and in mobile view (320x256), it reduces the number of features to just text-to-speech and translation to maintain accessibility. ReachDeck is working on remedying this issue.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements and would like information in a different format, please contact: 

  • email hello@scottishhumanrights.com
  • call 0131 297 5750
  • get in touch via contactSCOTLAND-BSL

We'll aim to get back to you within 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, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

Microsites and subdomains 

The microsites http://eqhria.scottishhumanrights.com/ and http://careaboutrights.scottishhumanrights.com/ fail to comply with WCAG 2.1 on the following issues:

  • Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
  • There is no visual indicator of keyboard focus. This makes it difficult for users to navigate the site using keyboard navigation. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).
  • There is no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a “skip to main content” option). This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).
  • It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).

How we are fixing this

We have begun work to migrate these micro-sites to an accessible platform. This work is ongoing. 

Other issues

  • Issues with colour contrast on some pages of the website or within PDF documents [this fails success criterion WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)]
  • Issues with images that do not have text alternatives on the website or within documents [fails success criterion WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content]
  • Some PDFs are not fully accessible, for example,  issues with accessibility tags and marking up table headers [this fails success criterion WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships]. Issues with the title of the document not identifying the contents [this fails success criterion WCAG 2.4.2 Page titled]. Issues with elements such as pictures that don't have alternative text [fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content].
  • Issues with focus on some pages. Focus can move to the cookie banner after the whole page content, meaning the user has to tab backwards or through the entire page to dismiss this. This may cause particular issues at 200 per cent and 400 per cent zoom, as the banner covers more of the screen [fails WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order]
  • Issues with focusable links within the navigation bar [fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: ARIA hidden element must not be focusable or contain focusable elements (Axe)]

How we are fixing this

We have commissioned a full, external audit of our website's accessibility to help us address these and other issues. We will continue improvement work based on those findings. 

We are aware of issues with PDF documents and we are commissioning staff training on creating accessible documents in the first quarter of 2024 to support this work. We will publish accessible versions as an alternative wherever possible.  Please contact us if you would like further information on a specific document. 

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. However, we always strive to ensure our content is as accessible as possible. Therefore, if you come across a document that isn’t accessible please let us know and we may be able to provide it in an alternative format.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was last reviewed on 23 January 2024.

An accessibility audit of our main website at www.scottishhumanrights.com was carried out by an external agency, Passion4Social, in January 2024.

Our project microsites, available at http://eqhria.scottishhumanrights.com/ and http://careaboutrights.scottishhumanrights.com/ will not be included in the test as they are currently under construction and migration to an accessible platform.