Accessibility Statement for the Student Chat (Unibuddy) web-based application

This website is run by Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Edinburgh and supplied by Unibuddy. For accessibility information direct from Unibuddy please see the Unibuddy Accessibility Policy.

Unibuddy Accessibility Policy

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 250% without the text spilling off the screen
• using your browser settings, change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• there is no flashing, scrolling or moving text
• use the website without encountering any time limits

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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:

• keyboard navigation may stop users reaching every area of the website, and could be clearer in informing users where they have reached on a page
• pop-ups are a frequent feature of the site
• colour contrasts do not necessarily meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA standard
• not all links indicate whether they open as a new pop-up or browser window
• alternative text and tooltips are not present on all non-text content
• continuous capitals and a small text size is present in some places
• colour is used in places as a means of communicating information
• there are areas whereby assistive technology does not work as well as others

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille you can contact us in the following ways:

• Undergraduate enquiries webform
• Email futurestudents@ed.ac.uk
• British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via Contact Scotland BSL, the online BSL interpreting service
  • Contact Scotland BSL

We will 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 are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us using the information under 'Feedback and contact information'. We will 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

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 24 hours a day, 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.

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:

1.1.1 - Non-text content

Not all non-text content presented to users has alternative text

1.3.2 - Meaningful sequence

The way the content is presented affects its meaning, and a correct reading sequence is not programmatically determined

1.3.6 - Identify input purpose

Not all user interface components, including icons and regions, can be correctly identified or labelled

1.4.1 - Use of colour

Colour is used to convey some information on the site

1.4.3 - Contrast (minimum)

There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is small

1.4.5 - Images of text

Information is conveyed as an image of text rather than as text itself, making it not compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies

1.4.11 - Non-text contrast

Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio

1.4.13 - Content on hover or focus

Tooltips are not present for all icons and images, and pop-ups are embedded into user activities

2.1.1 - Keyboard

All functionality of the content is not operable through a keyboard interface

2.4.7 - Focus visible

It is not always clear to tell where you have navigated to when you are using a keyboard

3.2.2 - On input

Users are not informed when taken to a new page beyond the Student Chat domain embedded within EdWeb

4.1.2 - Name, role, value

Screen readers are not able to identify some parts of the page

Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or significant improvement, will be in place for those items within our control by August 2023.

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 do not believe that any content is outside the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted, working with the supplier, 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 August 2023.

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 19^th July 2021. It was last reviewed on 16 January 2023.

This website was last tested by the University of Edinburgh’s Disability Information team in August 2022, using automated and manual testing. The website is next scheduled for manual testing by July 2023. This website was tested using the Microsoft Edge (91.0.864.59), Mozilla Firefox (78.11.0esr) and Google Chrome (91.0.4471.124) browsers. Although Internet Explorer remains one of the most commonly used browsers by disabled people, specifically due to its accessibility features and compatibility with assistive technology, Student Chat does not fully support it and it is therefore not compatible. For details on browser use, please refer to a UK government survey:

UK Government assistive technology browser survey.

However, Edge, Firefox and especially Chrome are considered the popular browsers when using a screenreader, as confirmed by current worldwide usage levels for different screen readers and browsers:

WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey 2024.

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

We tested:

• Spellcheck functionality
• Scaling using different resolutions and reflow
• Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour and so on)
• Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps
• Data validation
• Warning of links opening in a new tab or window
• Information conveyed in colour or sound only
• Flashing, moving or scrolling text
• Operability if JavaScript is disabled
• Use with screen reading software (for example, JAWS)
• Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, ZoomText, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, TalkBack and VoiceOver)
• Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
• Time limits