Equipment Loans - Accessibility Statement

The AV equipment loans service is run by the Learning Spaces Technology section of Information Services, The University of Edinburgh. We use the software company Siso to provide the online booking system. We want as many staff and students as possible to be able to use Siso. (Siso has customisation options which can be accessed from the main menu and clicking on Accessibility)

Our equipment loans web page has a link to a specific accessibility guide for the system: accessibility guide for AV loans.

 For example, this means that you should be able to:

• Use keyboard short cuts to navigate the screen
• Use voice control (if using a mobile device)
• Change font and background colours
• Tooltips are also enabled by default for most content

Siso is also compatible with other accessibility options such as:

• Browser settings can also be used to adjust font sizes and display options
• TextHelp spellchecker and reader functions work well
• Zoomtext is able to magnify text and change contrast

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Information on how to adjust your browser settings to customise the appearance of your browser window can to assist with readability and navigation can be found at customising browser settings. 

How accessible this system is

We are aware that some parts of the system aren’t fully accessible. The outstanding accessibility issues include:

• Spellcheck is not enabled for all free text entry boxes e.g. search boxes.
• The site is not 100% compatible with screen reading technology e.g. JAWS
• Some popup windows open without warning.
• It is not possible to navigate around the entire site using a keyboard only
• Not all colour contrasts meet the recommend guidance in WCAG
• When magnifying the content some icons and text overlap

What to do if you can’t access parts of this service

Learning Spaces Technology can provide additional information, help and advice. If you need information on the service in a different format like accessible PDF or large print, or if you are unable to make your own bookings, we will assist you with this via email or telephone:

• Email: learningspacestechnology@ed.ac.uk
• Phone: 0131 6504097

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 3 working days.

If you are a member of the University staff or a student, you can use the free Sensus Access accessible document conversion service to convert electronic documents into a range of alternate formats. These include audio books, e-books and digital braille.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this service. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we are not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, contact Learning Spaces Technology on:

• Email: learningspacestechnology@ed.ac.uk
• Phone: 0131 6504097

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

You can contact us by phone on 0131 6504097. Our phone lines are staffed 8:30am to 6pm Monday to Friday with an answerphone service at other times.

British Sign Language users can contact via contactSCOTLAND-BSL, the on-line British Sign Language interpreting service.

Find out more on the contactSCOTLAND website.

Our offices aren’t open to the public, but we can arrange for a member of our team to meet you at the helpdesk in the Main Library, 30 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LJ. The helpdesk is equipped with a counter audio induction loop.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/maps/maps?building=main-university-library

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

• There is no spellcheck for all free text entry boxes e.g. search boxes, title boxes (WCAG 3.3.3)
• When navigating with a keyboard it is not completely clear where a user has tabbed to (WCAG 2.1.1)
• Navigation with only a keyboard requires specific keyboard shortcuts (WCAG 2.1.4)
• Some distracting movement on screen without any warning (WCAG 2.3.3).
• Not all colour contrasts meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards. eg. sometimes there is a blue font on a blue background or a black font on a black background
• The use of text over image (WCAG 1.5.3)
•  Not 100% compatible with screen readers  (WCAG 1.4.5) Screen Readers were unable to read the booking calendar recognise the pop up window with asset information and read this and  users had to click enter on each page to access the main content of the page. Users cannot customise fonts and colours using browser settings (WCAG 1.1.1)
• When you hover your mouse over an icon, tooltips appear but in some cases, this makes the icon disappear, eg. shopping basket (WCAG 1.4.13)

We are liaising with the supplier of the AV equipment online booking system (Siso) to seek a solution to these issues and hope these will be address by September 2020 following a system upgrade. Whilst investigation is underway, we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged.

We also wish to remove the use of italics and continuous capitals to improve accessibility although this is not a WCAG criteria.

How we tested the system

The  online booking portal was tested by the University of Edinburgh’s Disability Information Officer in July 2019 on a PC using Internet Explorer (11.0.9600.19236) browser. This browser was chosen 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 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
• Information conveyed in colour or sound only
• Flashing or scrolling 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
• Access to specialist help

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to work with the supplier to address these issues and deliver a solution or suitable workaround.

We will continue to monitor system accessibility and will carry out further accessibility testing if significant changes are made to the user interface or if a service user raises an issue. However, due to the complexities of the online system it may not be possible to resolve all accessibility issues. If this is the case, we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged.

This statement was prepared on 3^rd September 2019. It was last updated on 17^th September 2019.