Accessibility Statement for the Student Chat (Unibuddy) website application

This accessibility statement applies to:

1. https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/student-life/student-chat
2. https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/chat-to-our-students-unibuddy

This website is run by the Student Recruitment and Admissions Directors Office at 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: 

• Experience no time limits when using the site
• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings 
• Use the site without having to repeatedly input information Use the site without the need to drag any content with a mouse  
• Navigate most of the website using voice recognition software e.g. Dragon 

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording, we could use without changing what the text means. 

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: 

• Not all content can be reached when navigating by keyboard 
• Selection displays are not clearly visible or lack contrast 
• Although there is a skip to main content option, it isn’t operable on all pages of the site 
• Some information is conveyed in colour only 
• Speech-to-text assistive software (for example, Dragon NaturallySpeaking) is not necessarily compatible with all browser configurations when using this website 
• Videos do not have human corrected captions or audio description 
• Text-to-speech assistive technology (Job Access with Speech (JAWS)) is not necessarily compatible with all browser configurations when using this website 
• Some non text items do not contain meaningful alternative text 
• There are examples of text as an image 
• There is moving content that cannot be stopped or paused by the user 
• Colour contrasts do not necessarily meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA standard; 
• Some headings levels are skipped throughout the site 
• There are pop-ups and new browser tabs that arise without warning 
• Data validation is not enabled on all relevant text fields and there are colour contrast issues with some of the error messages 
• Not all tooltips are enabled and some cannot be reached using keyboard navigation or assistive technology 
• The help section is not available in the same place on every page of the site 
• Some parts of the website are not fully compatible with mobile accessibility functionality 
• The site cannot be viewed in landscape  

Feedback and contact information

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

• Email: student.ambassadors@ed.ac.uk 
• Telephone: 0131 6504198 
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service. 

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: 

• Email: student.ambassadors@ed.ac.uk 
• Telephone: 0131 6504198 
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the on-line BSL interpreting service. 

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

Contact Scotland 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 from 8.00am to 12.00am, 7 days a week. 

Contact Scotland 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. 

Compliance Status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. 

The full guidelines are available at: 

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard 

Non accessible content

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria: 

• Non-text content does not have meaningful alternative text 
  • 1.1.1: Non-text Content 
• No transcript is available for video content 
  • 1.2.1: Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) 
• No human corrected captions are available on video content 
  • 1.2.2: Captions (Prerecorded) 
• No audio description available 
  • 1.2.5: Audio Description (Prerecorded) 
• “<ul> and <ol> do not only directly contain <li>, <script> or <template> elements” 
  • 1.3.1: Info and Relationships 
•  The site cannot be viewed in landscape mode 
  • 1.3.4: Orientation 
• Some information was conveyed in colour only 
  • 1.4.1: Use of Colour 
• Colour contrast is not always sufficient between text and background colours 
  • 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum) 
• Text is presented as images. 
  • 1.4.5: Images of Text 
• The scrollable region isn’t accessible by keyboard  
  • 2.1.1: Keyboard 
• Moving loading icons can't be paused or stopped. 
  • 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide 
• Skip to main content" functionality does not work in the settings section. 
  • 2.4.1: Bypass Blocks 
• Headings do not follow a logical order. 
  • 2.4.6 Headings and Labels 
• It can be unclear where you have navigated to by keyboard 
  • 2.4.7: Focus Visible 
• Links that open new tabs or windows do not have a visual or audio warning. 
  • 3.2.2: On Input 
• Help is not located on the same place on each page  
  • 3.2.6 Consistent Help
• Data validation messages have colour contrast issues.
  • 3.3.1: Error Identification
• When a user is asked to rectify a data validation error, suggestions are not always consistent or informative
  • 3.3.3 - Error Suggestion 
• Content is not robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies
  • 4.1.2 - Name, Role, Value 

We aim to improve our websites accessibility on a regular and continuous basis. See the section below ('What we're doing to improve accessibility') on how we are improving our site accessibility.  

We are working towards solving these problems and expect significant improvements by June 2025. The site is out with 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 time, we believe no content is out with the scope of the accessibility regulations. 

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted, working alongside the software suppliers for Unibuddy to deliver a solution or suitable workaround. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place for those items within our control by July 2025. However, most of the issues are not within our control but sit with Unibuddy. We are in contact with Unibuddy to discuss how best to resolve these issues as soon as possible. 

While we are in the process of resolving these accessibility issues 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 16th July 2024. It was last reviewed on 17th July 2024. 

The website was last tested on 24th June 2024. The testing was carried out by the Service Management team at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods.

The site was tested on a PC, primarily using the browsers Microsoft Edge (126.0.2592.56), Firefox (127.0) and Google Chrome (125.0.6422.142). Recent world-wide usage levels survey for different screen readers and browsers shows that Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are increasing in popularity and Google Chrome is now the favoured browser for screen readers:

WebAIM: Screen Reader User Survey 

The aforementioned three browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety. 

We ran automated testing using Axe DevTools and then manual testing that included: 

• Spell check functionality; 
• Scaling using different resolutions and reflow; 
• Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour, etc); 
• Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps; 
• Data validation; 
• Warning of links opening in new tab or window; 
• Information conveyed in the colour or sound only; 
• Flashing, moving or scrolling text; 
• Use with screen reading software (for example JAWS); 
• Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, Windows Magnifier, ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking, TalkBack and VoiceOver); 
• Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content; 
• Time limits; 
• Compatibility with mobile accessibility functionality (Android and iOS). 
• Any drag functionality and alternatives 
• Consistent help functions 
• No need to re-enter data already submitted 
• Any cognitive tests