Accessibility Statement for the University of Edinburgh UniDesk Website

Accessibility Statement for the University of Edinburgh UniDesk Website

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

This accessibility statement applies to http://www.unidesk.ac.uk

This website is run by Information Services, University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means you should be able to: 

  • Using your browser settings, change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • Zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of Job Access with Speech (JAWS), NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) and VoiceOver)
  • Use the website even if JavaScript is turned off

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: 

  • Navigation may be confusing due to missing Level 1 and Level 2 heading labels rather than Level 1 and the corresponding nested heading labels
  • Not all buttons can be activated using the space bar
  • There are areas of very low contrast between foreground and background colours
  • Images and logos may not have alternative text
  • Underlined text is present without a link in the Joining Details page

Feedback and contact information 

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

or contact the Information Services Helpline on

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:

or contact the Information Services Helpline on

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 

contactSCOTLAND-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 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

contactSCOTLAND-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. 

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. 

The full guidelines are available at: 

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard 

Non accessible content 

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria: 

  • Some images and icons do not have alternative text.
  • The order of heading tags is not ordered correctly on all pages. Heading levels are occasionally skipped
  • There are some areas of very low contrast between foreground and background colours
  • Inconsistent use of space bar to activate action button for launching UniDesk Share on the Our Members Page. Links to another location within the same page is present but do not have corresponding targets
  • There are some links throughout the website which contain no text and therefore the function or purpose of the link will not be presented to the user
  • Navigation by heading level is not intuitive

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 the time of writing, we are not aware of any content that is out with the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility 

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted. Where issues are within our direct control, we will work to provide a significant improvement by August 2021 where resources allow. The site is schedule for full manual testing by December 2021

While we are in the process of resolving these accessibility issues, or where we are unable, 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 11th September 2020. It was last reviewed on 14th September 2020. 

Automated testing using WAVE WebAim was undertaken to create this initial draft on 11th of September.

All pages of this website were last tested on 11th September 2020. The test was carried out by the Service Manager and Collaboration Services Team Manager within Service Management Section using the automated Wave WebAim tool.   The website is scheduled for manual testing by December 2021.