Accessibility
Website accessibility statement in line with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018
The Muir Maxwell Website is run by the Muir Maxwell Centre as part of the University of Edinburgh.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use the website. For example, this means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- experience no time limits to content
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- Magnify the content up to 200%
- 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.
Customising the website
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
AbilityNet - My computer my way
With a few simple steps you can customise the appearance of our website to make it easier to read and navigate.
Additional information on how to customise our website appearance
If you are a member of the University staff or a student you can use the free Sensus Access accessible document conversion service.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Spellcheck is not enabled for all free text boxes
- It can be difficult to tell where you have navigated to by keyboard only
- some colour contrasts are not as clear as they could be and the font is small in places
- some non-text content does not have text alternatives
- some links open new windows without warning the user
- not all icons have tootltips enabled
- Error notifications are not as clear as they could be
- It is not possible to customise all the text colour and background colour using browser settings
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille please contact the website team by contacting us:
By using the Muir Maxwell Contact form
Muir Maxwell Centre Contact Form
Or Emailing
mmec@ed.ac.uk
Or phoning
+44 (0) 131 536 0801
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re 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 let us know by contacting:
By using the Muir Maxwell Contact form
Muir Maxwell Centre Contact Form
Or Emailing
mmec@ed.ac.uk
Or phoning
+44 (0) 131 536 0801
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
British Sign Language Scotland 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 8am to 12 midnight, 7 days a week.
British Sign Language Scotland service details
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
When an accessibility issue is identified with the website we will seek to resolve this as soon as possible. While investigation is underway, we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no disabled user is disadvantaged
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
The full guidelines are available at:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1
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 2.1 AA success criteria:
- Not all non-text content has text alternatives
- Most tooltips disappear as soon as the cursor moves. Also tooltips are not always present for all icons and images.
- There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours especially where the text size is very small.
- Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio
- The purpose of each link cannot always be determined from the link text alone
- New browser windows or pop ups may appear without warning
Unless specified otherwise, wherever possible a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place by July 2021 where the issues are 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 stage we have not identified any content that is out with the scope of the accessibility regulations.
How we tested this website
This website was last tested in July 2020. The website was tested by the University of Edinburgh’s Deputy Disability Information Officer on a PC using Internet Explorer (11.0.9600.19236) browser and also using the automated Webaim WAVE tool and automated tool Little Forrest. Internet Explorer was chosen as the main testing browser due to it being the most commonly used browser by disabled people as shown in the government survey: the Government Assistive Technology Browser Survey
We also tested in other browsers Edge and Chrome.
We tested:
- Spellcheck functionality
- Data validation
- Scaling using different screen resolutions
- Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour etc.)
- Keyboard navigation
- Warning of links opening in a new tab or window
- If information is conveyed in colour or sound only
- Flashing, scrolling or moving text
- Operability if Javascript is disabled
- Use with screen reading software (eg. JAWS)
- Assistive Software such as TextHelp Read and Write, and Zoomtext
- Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
- Time limits
What we're doing to improve accessibility
We will continue to work with the website developers to address these issues and deliver a solution or suitable workaround and correct issues directly where they are under our control.
We will continue to monitor the website and carry out further accessibility testing if significant changes are made or if a service user raises an issue. To plan to resolve the issues that are within our control and which have been identified above by July 2021.
Whilst we attempt to resolve these issues, we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged.
Information Services and accessibility
Information Services (IS) has further information on accessibility including assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and services IS provides for disabled users.
Assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and services IS provides for disabled users
This statement was prepared on 20th July 2020. It was last updated on 20th July 2020