Accessibility statement for Sitelink

This statement applies to content published on the sitelink.nature.scot domain. This website is run by NatureScot. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. For example, you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• zoom in up to 300% 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 (opens in new tab) 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:

• some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
• some pages have poor colour contrast
• some heading elements are not consistent
• some images do not have good alternative text
• some buttons are not correctly identified
• some error messages are not clearly associated with form controls
• some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
• keyboard only users cannot skip to the main content

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information in a different format contact SiteLink@nature.scot and tell us

• the web address (URL) of the content.
• your name and email address.
• the format you need, for example HTML or accessible PDF.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you have any difficulties accessing any areas of this website or have any queries or suggestions, please send your comments to SiteLink@nature.scot

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you’re not happy with our response contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). 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’).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

NatureScot is committed to making its websites 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 version 2.1 AA standard.

SiteLink Non-accessible content

The content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:

• where it fails the success criteria
• planned dates for when issues will be fixed

3. List markup is misused. This fails under 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A

4. Provide landmarks for page navigation. This fails under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)

8. It is difficult for non-sighted users to identify which form has an error. This fails under: 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A), 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) and 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA)

9. Information is being conveyed using colour alone. This fails under: 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A)

20. Reading order is incorrect or illogical. This fails under: 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A)

21. Focus order is incorrect or illogical. This fails under: 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)

22. Button text could be improved. This fails under: 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A)

24. Users have to scroll across two dimensions to access content. This fails under: 1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA)

We plan to fix these issues by the end of June 2021. For any issues which require further redevelopment, we will details these with a revised timescale by end of May 2021.

The following issues are related to GIS maps within Sitelink and NatureScot is aware that they may be accessible to all

1. Decorative images should have an empty alt attribute. This fails under: 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)

2. Heading order is illogical. This fails under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)

5. Placeholder text cannot be used to label forms. This fails under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A)

11. Links are not visually distinct. This fails under: 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A)

13. Information is presented visually with no alternative. This fails under: 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A)

17. Content is not keyboard accessible. This fails under: 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)

19. The page title does not accurately describe the page content. This fails under: 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A)

23. Code quality issues (parsing) mean that some of the content may not be accessible via software used by people with disabilities. This fails under: 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A)

25. Colour contrast across borders of interactive elements is insufficient for users with low vision

Content that is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations

The following content does not need to comply with the accessibility requirements

• Third party content out with our control or not developed by NatureScot
• Interactive maps
• PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018
• PDFs containing map images

Improvements Road map for PDFs and other documents

Many documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure.

There are some PDF documents published after September 2018. Every effort will be made to convert these to an accessible HTML format. Priority will be given to those that require immediate attention and high traffic volume.

The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

How we tested this website

This website was tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA, using the services of an independent Accessibility advisory.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to decide on a sample of pages to test.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown above.

This statement was prepared on (date-to-be-updated) and was last updated on (date-to-be-updated).