Making our website accessible
This accessibility statement is relevant to WICS’s primary website: www.wics.scot.
This website is operated by WICS. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This means, for example, that 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 have 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.
We know that some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- some video streams do not have captions
- some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
Reporting accessibility problems with our website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us.
If you are not happy with how we respond to your feedback about problems accessing our site, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
We are committed to making our website 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 version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Feedback and contact information
If you would like information that is displayed on this website to be provided in a different format (such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille) please contact us by:
- email enquiries@wics.scot, or
- phone 01786 430200
If you are a British Sign Language (BLS) user, you can contact us via Contact Scotland.
Non-accessible content
We will always look to make improvements to ensure wics.scot is as accessible as possible for all. We have developed our website with the accessibility regulations in mind and will continue to make progress addressing any issues.
To help our users understand what areas of our website may not be fully accessible, we highlight the following key areas:
Documents
Some document formats on wics.scot such as PDF, MS Word and Excel may not be fully accessible. Where proportionate we will make documents accessible and/or provide a suitable HTML alternative.
Drop down icons (WCAG Ref 2.4.7 focus visible)
Drop down icons are hidden when in contrast mode. However, all content available via the drop down can be accessed through the main navigation.
Headings (WCAG Ref 1.3.1 info and relationships)
We are working to improve the way we use headings across our website. There are some limited instances where heading styles are not in sequential order or where heading levels increase by more than one. We are also working to use more descriptive headings for our new content.
Links(WCAG Ref 2.4.4 link purpose)
There are instances on our website where multiple links go to the same destination. Where proportionate, we will strive to ensure that new content is linked once.
Homepage video (WCAG Ref 2.2.2 pause stop hide)
The homepage shows a background video that automatically plays, and although it is decorative it is interfering with the text presented on top of it and it plays for more than 5 seconds.
Video captions (WCAG Ref 1.2.2 captions (pre-recorded))
On some of our videos open captions are used which currently can’t be turned off or customised. This change requires external support which we will consider in order to make proportionate improvements for future video content.
Scrolling tables (WCAG Ref 1.3.1 info and relationships)
In our larger scrolling tables, the first column is not frozen. This change requires development work across the website, but we will consider the proportionality of addressing this issue for future table content.
Footnotes (WCAG Ref 1.3.1 info and relationships)
We occasionally make use of footnotes in our longer PDF documents or on HTML pages. Where possible in preparing new content, we will aim to add links to reference sources as a way to reduce the need for footnotes.
Not within the scope of the regulations
The accessibility regulations do not cover PDF or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they're not essential to providing our services.
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)
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 23 August 2021, at website launch.
Subsequently, the statement was further reviewed and updated following an accessibility audit carried out by the Scottish Government’s Digital Accessibility Team in 2022. During this audit WICS.SCOT was evaluated against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 to AA level.
The statement was last reviewed on 18 December 2023 when it was brought into alignment with the model accessibility statement. This follows a review carried out by the Accessibility Monitoring Team at the Government Digital Service (part of the Cabinet Office), in 2023.
Ongoing internal reviews are carried out on our site and an annual accessibility audit will be carried out to ensure we continue to comply with accessibility regulations.