Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for Mental Health Data Science Scotland (MHDSS) website

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

This accessibility statement applies to https://mhdss.ac.uk

This website is run by The Division of Psychiatry at The 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:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • experience no time limit upon use

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 staff or student at The University of Edinburgh 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:

  • It may be difficult to use this site with screen readers
  • Access to all content may not be possible by using the keyboard alone
  • Not all media have a transcript or is subtitled.
  • Not all colour contrasts meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard

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 SPS Communications and Engagement Team:

We will consider your request and do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible, in no more than 12 working days. (There is only one person receiving your email who could be on annual leave – we will endeavour to reply much more quickly than this).

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 the Knowledge Exchange and Impact officer.

We try to respond as quickly as possible, in no more than 12 working days. (There is only one person receiving your email who could be on annual leave – we will endeavour to reply much more quickly than this).

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.

Compliance Status

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

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

  • The order of heading tags is not always ordered correctly on all pages. Heading levels are occasionally skipped.  1.3.1: Info and Relationships. We are continuing to review and correct these issues as they are discovered.
  • To the best of our knowledge, it is possible to access the content using the keyboard only. However, there may be instances that have slipped our attention. 2.1.1: Keyboard
  • Some of the video links that are hosted on other websites (e.g. CCACE YouTube channel and Media Hopper at the University of Edinburgh) do not have subtitles. We are working with these collaborators to resolve this issue.
  • Not all our PDFs and Word document meet accessibility standards. However, where-ever possible, the same content has been provided in a multiple formats (e.g. HTML, Word and PDF). WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value)

Disproportionate burden 

  • On some pages there is not sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours. 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum). This is because of the initial website design and cannot be changed without significant cost / re-design.
    The research project should have finished by now and the website archived. However, as the project is still active with a no-cost extension from the MRC, we have retained use of this website. However, the cost of fixing the website would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment at the end of the research contract (Dec 2020).  

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 not out with the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility 

We will continue to review the website and attempt to address the accessibility issues as they are identified. We will work with CCACE / Media Hopper to ask them to add subtitles to their content.

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 18 September 2020

This website was tested by the Team in the Division of Psychiatry in Sep 2020, primarily using Firefox and Chrome browsers. We carried out manual testing alongside automated testing using WAVE WebAim.

We tested: 

  • Scaling using different 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
  • Use with assistive software
  • Text alternatives for any non-text content