This statement provides information on the accessibility of new Scottish Parliament websites. It also explains how we’ve tested the websites and areas that we still need to work on.
This accessibility statement relates to all web content of the Scotland’s Futures Forum website located at https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org.
Scotland’s Futures Forum is wholly owned 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 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 has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
In our most recent test in 2020, we found that some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Assistive Tools: Uploaded images may not have text alternatives, titles or labels, as some images were because the Accessibility guideline was implemented after the submission of the content uploaded.
- Links: Some pages show links using general text like ‘Click Here’ with no surrounding text explaining link purpose because the Accessibility guideline was implemented after the submission of the content.
We carried out work to fix the problems, which was completed in August 2023. As far as we are aware, the work to improve the site has addressed all the issues above. Please report an issue if you find one.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
Get content in other formats
We will do our best to provide you with the content you need in a format that is suitable for you. Please get in touch.
- Email: ScotlandsFuturesForum@parliament.scot
- Add the web address (URL) of the page the content’s on.
- Describe the format you need, for example audio CD, braille, BSL or large print.
- Enter 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:
- Contact us at: ScotlandsFuturesForum@parliament.scot
- Add the web address (URL) of the page the content’s on or choose the whole site.
- Let us know your issue.
- Enter 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
The 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) define 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. Scotland’s Futures Forum 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
Most of the issues flagged in regard to accessibility are connected to the links descriptions, titles and labels. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA Success Criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2 due to not providing an accessible name for an image which is the only content in a link. (Each element must contain text or an image with an alt attribute.)
Some page titles do not specifically refer to content. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 2.4.2 (page titles).
We undertook work to improve the accessibility of the site. This work was completed in August 2023. As far as we are aware, the work to improve the site has addressed all the issues above.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Some articles may have uploaded files in PDF format. Older PDF 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 June 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 who run 3 simulation tools for dyslexia, low or partial vision, colour blindness, trembling movements, and keyboard navigation;
We tested the following pages:
- Home Page: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/
- Scotland 2030 Programme: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/scotland-2030-programme/
- About Page: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/about/
- Blog page: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/category/blog-to-the-future/
- Major Projects Page: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/category/library/major-projects/
- Events and Resources Page: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/category/library/events-and-resources/
- News Page:https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/category/news/
- Page containing a Report: https://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/scotland-2030-future-schooling-education-and-learning-report/
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
Scotland’s Futures Forum 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 Scotland’s Futures Forum 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.
Read the full evaluation report.
This statement was prepared on 31 August 2020 and updated on 13 December 2022 and 6 September 2023.