This website is run by the Scottish Government. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible.  

You should be able to: 

  • Use your web browser to change colours, contrast levels and fonts 
  • Move through most the website using just a keyboard 
  • Move through most 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) 
  • Access the website using a mobile or tablet 

How accessible this website is  

We know that some parts of this website are not fully accessible. The following examples give more detail. 

State of elements not always announced 

The state of elements is not always announced to screen readers, these elements include:  

  • Check boxes 
  • Play buttons  
  • Hamburger menu 

This makes it difficult for screen reader users to understand what they can do. 

Zoom obscures content

When zoomed to 200% certain elements become very large and block other content. An example of this is the cookies menu button.   

Also, the focus of the hamburger menu isn’t managed well. This  makes keyboard navigation hard. 

Link text issues

Some links have aria-label attributes that override the visible link text. This results in confusing or non-descriptive announcements for screen reader users. 

No way to stop autoplay 

On some pages there is no way for users to pause or stop auto playing video content. The homepage is an example where this happens. This can be distracting or problematic for certain users.

Issues with navigation menu text 

Text in the navigation menu can be hard to read when on top of complex or dynamic background images and videos. This is because there’s not enough contrast. This is a problem for users with visual impairments. 

Alt text for images 

Some images on the site do not have accurate or descriptive alt-text. For example the "Scotland" logo and certain map graphics. This makes it hard for screen reader users to understand the content. 

Feedback and contact information

We want to find ways to make this website more accessible.If you find any problems or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: ceu@gov.scot with the details.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (equalityhumanrights.com) 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) (equalityadvisoryservice.com).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Brand Scotland 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 is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 (w3.org) AA standard. The non-compliances are listed below.

Reflow and zoom Issues

At 200% zoom, keyboard users can’t access the hamburger menu. Focus is also lost on certain elements. This makes it hard for keyboard users to use the site.

Keyboard users may want to avoid zooming in to 200% to prevent focus problems.

Instead, they can try making the text bigger in the browser settings without changing the layout. (Info and relationships 1.3.1, Focus order 2.4.3, Focus Visible 2.4.7)

At 200% magnification, the cookies menu button gets bigger and blocks important page content, such as the "About Us" link. This issue also causes the button’s click target to extend beyond its visible area. This leads to accidental clicks.

(Resize text 1.4.4, Focus not obscured 2.4.11)

Functional issues with interactive elements

  • On multiple devices, screen readers don’t announce if the hamburger menu is expanded or collapsed, making it hard to use the site’s menu. (Name, Role, Value 4.1.2)
  • On the "Before You Move to Scotland" page, checkboxes are taken out of the focus order, while the label incorrectly gets  focus. (Focus Order 2.4.3, Name, Role, Value 4.1.2)
  • Screen readers incorrectly announce the close button for video popups  as a "play button" causing confusion for users. (Info and Relationships 1.3.1, Name, Role, Value 4.1.2)

Auto-playing video on the homepage

On the homepage, there is no control for pausing or stopping the auto-playing video. This can distract or confuse users, especially those with cognitive disabilities.

As a workaround, users can adjust their browser settings or use browser extensions to block autoplay videos. For instance, Chrome users can install the "Autoplay Blocker" extension. Users of Firefox or Edge can disable autoplay in the browser’s settings (Pause, Stop, Hide 2.2.2).

Visual and contrast issues

The navigation menu text can be hard to read when on top of   complex backgrounds like images or videos. This can be a problem for users with low vision. Users can work around this by using browser extensions or built-in tools that adjust contrast settings. This does not fully resolve the issue. (Contrast Minimum 1.4.3)

Missing or incorrect alt text

On the "Why Study in Scotland" page, map graphics don’t have appropriate alternative text. This means screen reader users cannot understand the content. (Non-text Content 1.1.1)

Disproportionate burden

We are not claiming that any of our accessibility issues are disproportionate to fix.

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

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix:

  • PDFs
  •  other documents published before 23 September 2018

That is if they are not essential to providing our services. Where documents are updated and new PDF documents published, they will meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Recent audits have found several accessibility problems ons the site. This includes functional problems with:

  • Interactive elements
  •  Contrast issues
  •  Focus management
  •  Screen reader support

We are working hard to fix these problems to make the website easier to use.

We’re making the following key improvements:

  • Accessibility roadmap will be updated following accessibility audit.

Interactive elements

Refactoring buttons and controls, such as the Play/Pause button on video content. This will ensure they work correctly for all users, including those using keyboards or screen readers.

Focus management

Making sure all interactive elements are properly included in the focus order and can be easily used  with the keyboard. Key elements include check boxes and buttons.

Contrast enhancements

Improving the contrast between text and background, particularly in the menu bar. It will meet WCAG minimum contrast requirements for both bold and regular text.

Screen reader compatibility

Revising aria-label attributes and other screen reader announcements to provide clear, descriptive information.

This includes making sure that external links are properly labelled and hashtags follow camel case formatting for clarity. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 21/10/24. It was last reviewed on 21/10/24. 

This website was last tested on 18/10/24 by User Vision (uservision.co.uk). 

User Vision ran an automated test across the site, to check compliance with WCAG 2.2 (AA). The automated tests were done using the latest version of WAVE (wave.webaim.org) and Accessibility Insights (accessibilityinsights.io). This was followed by a manual accessibility review of a representative sample of pages and content types. It was done using assistive technology in based on what most people use (JAWS and NVDA for desktop, and VoiceOver and Talkback for mobile and tablet). 

We are currently making changes based on this test. We will update this page with new information about the improvements we make.