Staff Services Student Enterprise

Accessibility statement

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

Edinburgh Innovations (https://edinburgh-innovations.ed.ac.uk) is a website hosted by Edinburgh Innovations on behalf of the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • magnify up to 200% without text spilling off the screen
  • navigate to most of the website using just a keyboard
  • use the system without timeout

We’ve 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:

  • all colour contrasts may not meet recommended levels
  • some parts may not be fully compatible with screen readers
  • it is not possible to navigate to all content by keyboard only
  • alternative text is not present for all non-text content
  • some text may not reflow in a single column at high levels of magnification (above 300%)


Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille please contact the Edinburgh Innovations Marketing team:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in five 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:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in five 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, seven 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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

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

  • There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is very small
  • Information is conveyed as an image of text rather than as text itself, meaning it is likely to be incompatible with screen readers and other assistive technology
  • Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio
  • Most tooltips disappear as soon as the cursor moves. Also tooltips are not always present for all icons and images
  • It is not possible to use a keyboard to access all the content

Unless specified otherwise a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place by January 2021 for the issues within 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 are not claiming any material is out of scope.


What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to work to address these issues and deliver a solution or suitable workaround. Where issues are under our control we will work to rectify to correct issues. We plan to resolve the issues that are within our control by June 2021.


Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 10 June 2020. It was last reviewed on 17 September 2020. This website was tested by the Marketing and IT team at Edinburgh

Innovations and by the Little Forest automated testing tool. We tested most pages throughout the site to ensure all the features of the website received review.

We tested:

  • Spellcheck functionality
  • Scaling using different resolutions
  • Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour etcetera)
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Data validation
  • Warning of links opening in a new tab or window
  • Information conveyed in colour or sound only
  • Flashing or scrolling text
  • Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content
  • Time limits

Little Forrest claims it tests the following WCAG criteria either partially or wholly

WCAG 2.1 A 1.1.1 Non-text Content
WCAG 2.1 A 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1 A 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1 A 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1 A 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
WCAG 2.1 A
1.3.2
Meaningful Sequence
WCAG 2.1
A
1.3.3
Sensory Characteristics
WCAG 2.1
A
1.4.1
Use of Color
WCAG 2.1
A
1.4.2
Audio Control
WCAG 2.1
A
2.1.1
Keyboard
WCAG 2.1
A
2.1.2
No Keyboard Trap
WCAG 2.1
A
2.2.1
Timing Adjustable
WCAG 2.1
A
2.2.2
Pause, Stop, Hide
WCAG 2.1
A
2.3.1
Three Flashes or Below Threshold
WCAG 2.1
A
2.4.1
Bypass Blocks
WCAG 2.1
A
2.4.2
Page Titled
WCAG 2.1
A
2.4.3
Focus Order
WCAG 2.1
A
2.4.4
Link Purpose (In Context)
WCAG 2.1
A
3.1.1
Language of Page
WCAG 2.1
A
3.2.1
On Focus
WCAG 2.1
A
3.2.2
On Input
WCAG 2.1
A
3.3.1
Error Identification
WCAG 2.1
A
3.3.2
Labels or Instructions
WCAG 2.1
A
4.4.1
Parsing
WCAG 2.0
A
4.4.2
Name, Role, Value
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.2.4
Captions (Live)
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.2.5
Audio Description (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.4.3
Contrast (Minimum)
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.4.4
Resize Text
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.4.5
Images of Text
WCAG 2.1
AA
2.4.5
Multiple Ways
WCAG 2.1
AA
2.4.6
Headings and Labels
WCAG 2.1
AA
2.4.7
Focus Visible
WCAG 2.1
AA
3.1.2
Language of Parts
WCAG 2.1
AA
3.2.3
Consistent Navigation
WCAG 2.1
AA
3.2.4
Consistent Identification
WCAG 2.1
AA
3.3.3
Error Suggestion
WCAG 2.1
AA
3.3.4
Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.2.6
Sign Language (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.2.7
Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.2.8
Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.2.9
Audio-only (Live)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.4.6
Contrast (Enhanced)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.4.7
Low or No Background Audio
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.4.8
Visual Presentation
WCAG 2.1
AAA
1.4.9
Images of Text (No Exception)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.1.3
Keyboard (No Exception)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.2.3
No Timing
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.2.4
Interruptions
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.2.5
Re-authenticating
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.3.2
Three Flashes
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.4.8
Location
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.4.9
Link Purpose (Link Only)
WCAG 2.1
AAA
2.4.10
Section Headings
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.1.3
Unusual Words
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.1.4
Abbreviations
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.1.5
Reading
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.1.6
Pronunciation
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.2.5
Change on Request
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.3.5
Help
WCAG 2.1
AAA
3.3.6
Error Prevention (All)
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.3.4
Orientation
WCAG 2.1
AA
1.3.5
Identify Input Purpose