Skip to Main Content

Accessibility Statement for the Dictionary of Scottish Architects

New

Accessibility Statement

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is committed to making its digital estate accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the Regulations).

This accessibility statement applies to the Dictionary of Scottish Architects, with the URL (https://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/).

Feedback and contact information

If you have feedback about the website, or need information found within the website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

  • email archives@hes.scot
  • call us on +44 (0)131 651 6872
  • mail us at Historic Environment Scotland, John Sinclair House, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 9NX
We will consider your request and try to get back to you in 10 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of the website. If you find any problems that aren't listed on this page or think we're not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, contact the digital team:

  • email archives@hes.scot
  • call us on +44 (0)131 651 6872
  • mail us at Historic Environment Scotland, John Sinclair House, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 9NX

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. If you're not happy with how we respond to your complaint contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Images

Some images have poor or inappropriate alt text, which is a failure of success criteria 1.1.1 Non-text content (A). There are also some images that are decorative and should be programmed to be ignored by assistive technology, this is a further failure of success criteria 1.1.1 Non-text content (A). The alt text of images will be reviewed and amended in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Colours

Our "back to top" of content button fails success criteria 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (AA) and needs stronger definition with its colours and outlines. This will be fixed in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Buttons

On mobile devices and increased magnification views, there is sometimes not enough spacing between adjacent buttons. This fails against success criteria 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (AA). We will review and increase the spacing and padding between buttons in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Within the footer area of the website, we originally made the decision to label the links as buttons. These would be better presented as hyperlinks and will be programmed as such in the next round of development by the end of 2024. This is a failure of success criteria 1.3.1 Information and Relationships (A).

The "back to top" of content button needs additional labelling for proper identification for assistive technology. It currently fails success criteria 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A) and will be fixed in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Navigation

There are several areas of the website where search is the primary function. Upon searching for a specific term, a page's title should update to enable users to identify it within multiple browser tabs but this does not happen. This is a failure of success criteria 2.4.2 Page Titled (A) and will be fixed in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

In some instances on the home page, items that are not hyperlinks are decorated with styles used typically for hyperlinks. This is something that will be rectified in the next round of development by the end of 2024 as it currently fails success criteria 1.3.1 Information and relationships (A).

Menu

An irregularity that occurs within the mobile menu is that the item "feedback" directs users to our "Contact" dialogue box. To maintain consistency with the rest of the website, this item should be relabelled from "feedback" to "contact". This item fails success criteria 3.2.4 Consistent Identification (AA) and will be fixed in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Reflow and page adjustments

At increased magnifications between 200 and 400% there are "reflow" issues for some users. The edges of some lettering moves off screen and there is some horizontal navigation required to read text. This is a failure of success criteria 1.4.10 Reflow (AA) and we will endeavour to fix this by upgrading our servers to the latest version by the end of our financial year (31 Mar 2025).

Keyboard only users

In several areas of the website, keyboard focus can be lost. This is a failure of success criteria 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA). The focus is also difficult to follow at magnifications of 200% and greater, with the sticky header getting in the way for "backwards" navigation. This is a failure of success criteria 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (AA). This will be fixed in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Headings

On some of our more basic pages, the headings have not always been well chosen to maintain a logical structure. This is a failure of success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) and will be fixed in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Operability

Users may experience some frustration with session time outs, something that is currently not adjustable. This fails success criteria 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (A). We will work towards removing this session timer in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Readability

The main body content is presented in a "justified" format, making it difficult for some users to read. We will go through the website to left align our written content. There is no failure of WCAG criteria in this instance, but it would be beneficial to all users for this change to be implemented. We will enact this change in the next round of development by the end of 2024.

Disproportionate burden

We are not claiming that any of our accessibility issues are disproportionate to fix.

Content that's not within the scope of the Regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our older office file format documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDFs) were published before 23 September 2018 and are not used for administrative or essential purposes and so may be inaccessible. Due to their age and non-essential status, they are exempt under Regulation 4(2)(a) of the regulations.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

How we tested the websites

The Dictionary of Scottish Architects website was tested by following the Government's Simplified Audit method.

The web pages tested against contained web components that are replicated across the website, our common templates and our most visited pages and travelled routes.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We'll continue to update and audit our accessibility on an annual basis to ensure we work toward fully meeting single A and double AA standards.

We are always looking to improve our accessibility services and view accessibility as an ethical and professional obligation. Our team undergo regular training to improve and learn the latest best practice in digital accessibility.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was initially prepared on 16 July 2024. The website was last tested on 15 July 2024. The website will be reviewed on 8 January 2025.

The self-assessment test was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Lead at Historic Environment Scotland.