Accessibility

Accessibility of Delib software

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This website is made up of:

  • Software that is designed and controlled by Delib, for example the overall structure and the look and feel of the pages.
  • Content that has been added by Scottish Parliament, for example most of the information, including words, pictures and documents.

Delib does not control the content added to this site, but does develop and test the software to support:

  • Zooming in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen.
  • Navigating the website using just a keyboard.
  • Navigating the website using speech recognition software.
  • Listening to the website using a screen reader.

Content that has been added that is not fully accessible may be listed on this page as a non-conformity, or details may be given alongside the inaccessible content.

Delib is committed to making the software accessible.

Delib test the software against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.2 AA standard. Improvements to the software are released regularly. Any changes made to the software as a part of that process are tested internally in advance of release for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.2 level AA.

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, contact us.

Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement relates to all web content on the Your Views website located at https://yourviews.parliament.scot.

Your Views is run by the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB).  We are committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

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.

How accessible this website is

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

  • Language: some parts of the website contains sentences that are too long; including the use of jargon and acronyms and uses language that is not fully understandable to the general audience.
  • Inaccessible information for assistive technology: The language of some information including labels, underlying code and keyboard shortcuts cannot be correctly identified by some screen readers and the purpose of some links cannot be identified by screen readers.
  • Element Description: Lack of identifiable information for links, headings, labels and unique names for elements.
  • Use of colour and styling: Lack of contrast and efficient element outlines.  For example, underlining and borders to allow visual focus.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

Get content in other formats

  1. Contact https://yourviews.parliament.scot/support/
  2. Add the web address (URL) of the page the content’s on.
  3. Describe the format you need, for example audio CD, braille, BSL or large print.
  4. Please leave your name and email address.

We’ll aim to reply within 2 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us by doing the following:

  1. Contact webteam@parliament.scot.
  2. Add the web address (URL) of the page the content’s on or choose the whole site.
  3. Let us know your issue.
  4. Provide your name and email address if you want a response, or leave this blank if you want to remain anonymous.

If you request a response, we'll aim to reply within 2 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

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

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Citizen Space (Your Views) is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some issues flagged in regards to accessibility are connected to the element description. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA Success Criteria and 4.1.1.

Some pages contain text that is not understandable to the general audience. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 3.1.2.

Some information is accessible to assistive technology such as screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 3.1.1 and 4.1.2

Some elements including links use low contrast and/ or are difficult to see for the partially sighted. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.3.1 and 1.4.3.

To fix these we work with the provider of Citizen Space, Delib, to identify solutions to these remaining issues on an ongoing basis and keep this statement up to date.

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

Some articles may have uploaded files in PDF format. Older PDFs documents may not meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be structured to be accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.

However, it passed on manual and automated tests, presenting a good level of accessibility with bookmarks, tab support, and reading order.

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.

Any new PDFs we publish will meet accessibility standards.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested in March 2020. The test was carried out by accessibility Passion4Social CIC (third-party), not involved in the design and development process.

We used this approach to test:

  • Automated tests: We used 6 software tools to identify accessibility and navigation issues across the entire website;
  • The web pages with most issues were added to the manual testing;
  • Using Google Analytics, we selected the pages most accessed by the users since January 2020 and added to manual testing;
  • Manual tests: performed by three people with disabilities (blindness, global learning disabilities, and motor disabilities) and one professional web developer that run 3 simulation tools for dyslexia, low or partial vision, colour blindness, trembling movements, and keyboard navigation;

We tested the following pages:

 

  1. Home Page and Accessibility Policy: https://yourviews.parliament.scot
  2. Find Calls for Views: https://yourviews.parliament.scot/consultation_finder/
  3. Categories: https://yourviews.parliament.scot/health/social-care-inquiry/
  4. Consultation pages
  5. Support Page: https://yourviews.parliament.scot/support/

As all pages are based on the same platform and template, they have not been tested individually but some samples have been selected from all of them.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

Citizen Space (Your Views) is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

  • JAWS
  • NVDA
  • VoiceOver
  • Android
  • BlackBerry
  • Chrome
  • Edge
  • Internet Explorer (from version 10)
  • Firefox
  • Opera
  • Safari
  • iPhone/iPad
  • Microsoft Edge

Technical specifications

Accessibility of the Your Views website relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

  • HTML
  • WAI-ARIA
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Check out the full evaluation report.

This statement was prepared on 20th August 2020 and updated December 2022.