Accessibility statement for ASPIRING

Website accessibility statement inline with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

This accessibility statement applies to: https://www.aspiring.ed.ac.uk

This website is run by the Interactive Content service within the Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • Magnify all content to 300% without loss of content
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • Navigate most of the website using screen recognition software e.g. Dragon
  • Experience no time limits

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.

Customising the website

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:

Information on SensusAccess

How accessible this website is

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

  • The colour contrast on errors could be improved
  • Some areas where information is conveyed by colour only e.g. links
  • Ensure all link text is meaningful hypertext
  • Ensure no links open new windows or browser tabs without alerting the user in advance this will happen
  • Some content is cut off when viewed in portrait orientation on mobile
  • Tooltips are only available with mouse hover
  • There are some pdf documents which are not fully accessible
  • The focus indicator of where you have tabbed to is not always clear
  • Reflow is not fully enabled to 400%

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days. 

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, please contact:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 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 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

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

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

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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.

Compliance Status

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

Non accessible content

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:

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 March 2026. The site is fully within our control.

Disproportionate burden

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.

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

At this time we believe no content is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to address and make adequate improvements to the accessibility issues highlighted. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place by March 2026.

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.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 12th February 2025. It was last reviewed on 4th March 2025.

The website was last tested in March 2025. The testing was carried out by the Interactive Content service within the Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods. The site was tested on a Mac, primarily using Google Chrome alongside Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari, also a PC with Microsoft Edge 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 browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety.

Automated testing

We ran automated testing using the following web accessibility evaluation tools:

Manual testing

We performed 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 assistive software (TextHelp Read&Write);
  • Use with screen reading software (TextHelp Read&Write, NVDA on Windows 11, TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on iOS and macOS)
  • Use with screen magnification software (ZoomText and Zoom on iOS and macOS)
  • Use with a screen reader (Jaws, Voiceover and Talkback)
  • Use with voice recognition software (Dragon and Voice Control on macOS)
  • Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
  • Time limits
  • Compatibility with mobile accessibility functionality (Android and iOS);
  • Any drag functionality and alternatives
  • Consistent help function
  • No need to re-enter data already submitted
  • Any cognitive tests

Change Log

5th March 2025

  • Content buttons that have long text causing horizontal scrolling on mobile portrait orientation have been shortened

12th February 2025