Accessibility statement for Lothian Health Services Archive website
Website accessibility statement inline with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018
This accessibility statement applies to:
https://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/
This website is run by the Library and University Collections Directorate which is part of Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means you should be able to:
• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• Magnify up to 500%
• Navigate all of the website using just a keyboard
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• Listen to most of the application 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. However, some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a
disability. This is an external site with suggestions to make your computer
more accessible:
AbilityNet - My Computer My Way
With a few simple steps you can customise the appearance of our website using your browser settings to make it easier to read and navigate:
Additional information on how to customise our website appearance
If you are a member of University staff or a student, you can use the free SensusAccess accessible document conversion service:
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
• Some colour contrasts do not meet WCAG 2.2 standards
• Reflow is not enabled to 400%
• Not all images have meaningful alternative text
• Screen readers are not fully compatible with the site
• Some hyperlinks open new tabs/windows without warning the user
• Some hyperlinks are naked, or have no title attribute i.e. are not meaningful hypertext
• Some selection displays on the website lack visibility meaning user may struggle to see where they have navigated to on the site
• Keyboard navigation does not follow a logical order
• There is no 'Skip to main content' link or button
• The carousel moves on its own, without the user interacting with it, and it cannot be stopped or paused by the user
• The language of the page is missing
• Tooltips cannot be reached by keyboard navigation or assistive technology
• Headings are not used correctly on the page
Voice recognition software is not fully compatible with the site
If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:
• By using the IS Helpline online contact form:
• Or phoning:
+44 (0)131 651 5151
• Or email:
British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL,
the on-line BSL interpreting service:
We'll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
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, please contact:
• By using the IS Helpline online contact form:
• Or phoning:
+44 (0)131 651 5151
• Or email:
British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL,
the on-line BSL interpreting service:
We'll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
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 please contact the Equality
Advisory and Support Service (EASS) directly:
Contact details for the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)
The government has produced information on how to report accessibility issues:
Reporting an accessibility problem on a public sector website
British Sign Language service
Contact Scotland BSL runs a service for British Sign Language users and all of Scotland's public bodies using video relay. This enables sign language users to contact public bodies and vice versa. The service operates from 8.00am to 12.00am, 7 days a week.
Contact Scotland BSL service details.
The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its websites and applications 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 (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
The full guidelines are available at:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:
• Not all non-text items have alternative text
• Keyboard navigation does not always follow a logical order
• There were several colour contrast issues
• Reflow is not enabled up to 400%
• Tooltips cannot be reached by keyboard navigation or with assistive technology
o 1.4.13 - Content on Hover or Focus
• There are time limits for the carousel that are not adjustable by the user
• The user cannot pause or stop the carousel
• • There is no skip to main content button in the website
• There are some links that are not meaningful hypertext e.g. no title attribute, naked URLs, and some duplicate URLs
o 2.4.4 - Link Purpose (In Context)
• Headings are not formatted correctly, which affects screen reader software
• When navigating by keyboard it can be unclear where you have tabbed to
• The language of the page cannot be programmatically determined
• Some hyperlinks open link in new tab/window, and some popups do not alert the user
• Many 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 (name, role value).
We aim to improve our websites accessibility on a regular and continuous basis. See the section below ('What we're doing to improve accessibility') on how we are improving our site accessibility.
We are working towards solving these problems and expect significant improvements by February 2025. The site is fully within our control
We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a
disproportionate burden to fix.
At this time we believe no content is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations.
We will continue to address and make improvements to the accessibility issues highlighted. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place by February 2025. We have full control of the site.
While we are in the process of resolving these accessibility issues we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged. As changes are made, we will continue to review accessibility and retest the accessibility of this website.
This statement was prepared on 20th September 2021. It was last reviewed on 14th March 2024.
The website was last tested on February 2024. The testing was carried out by the Library and University Collections Directorate which is part of Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods. The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Microsoft Edge alongside Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
Recent world-wide usage levels survey for different screen readers and browsers shows that Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are increasing in popularity and Google Chrome is now the favoured browser for screen readers:
WebAIM: Screen Reader User Survey
The aforementioned three browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety.
We ran automated testing using WAVE WebAIM and then manual testing that included:
• Spell check functionality;
• Scaling using different resolutions and reflow;
• Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour, etc);
• Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps;
• Data validation;
• Warning of links opening in new tab or window;
• Information conveyed in the colour or sound only;
• Flashing, moving or scrolling text;
• Use with screen reading software (for example JAWS);
• Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, Windows Magnifier, ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking, TalkBack and VoiceOver);
• Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content;
• Time limits;
• Compatibility with mobile accessibility functionality (Android and iOS).