Audit Scotland
Accessibility
We believe that everyone should be able to access our website regardless of any impairments or technical constraints. Please read our accessibility policy (PDF 69Kb) for full details.
Web accessibility accreditation
The website has been awarded 'two ticks' accreditation for web accessibility by the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC). The process included a dedicated team of users with differing disabilities testing the site on a wide variety of assistive technologies to make sure that all barriers to accessibility were identified and overcome. View our current certificate of accreditation.
Text on this website can be read aloud
Browsealoud reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online, and can simplify and magnify the layout so it is easier to read text. Reading large amounts of text on screen can be difficult for those with literacy and visual impairments. It is also useful for those with English as a second language. The image on the left which is displayed on every page is served directly from Browsealoud. Unfortunately it does not have an alt tag and we have no control over it.
Browsealoud can also read aloud text from PDF documents, translate text into a range of different languages and read it in the selected language, and can convert selected text into an mp3 recording which can be listened to later.
To use Browsealoud, simply click the Browsealoud button at the bottom of any page. This will give you a toolbar where you can select various options. You can also change the settings to highlight text in different colours and alter the reading voice.
To find out more about Browsealoud and how to use it, visit www.browsealoud.com.
British Sign Language plan
Our British Sign Language (BSL) plan details how we promote and support BSL in accordance with the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015. It also sets out the actions we have already taken, those we propose to take over the period 2018-2024, and how we will make our audit work and organisation more accessible.
Download our BSL plan - PDF 74Kb
Text-only version of BSL plan - RTF 74Kb
Our BSL plan is also available in British Sign Language in this video.
British Sign Language plan
Our British Sign Language (BSL) plan details how we promote and support BSL in accordance with the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015. It also sets out the actions we have already taken and those we propose to take over the period 2018-2024.
Download our BSL plan - PDF 74Kb
Text-only version of BSL plan - RTF 74Kb
Our BSL plan is also available in British Sign Language in this video.
Standards compliance
Where possible, all pages within the site comply with the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Priority Level 1 and 2 guidelines.
Many Priority Level 3 guidelines have also been followed in the creation of this web site, and we intend to improve upon this in the future.
Access keys
We have included the UK Government's standard access keys to enable you to navigate the main website sections using the keyboard.
For Windows-based PCs, press the 'Alt' key and one of the numbers below, then press the 'Return' key. For Apple Macs, press the 'Ctrl' key and one of the numbers below.
Supported keys
S - Skip navigation
1 - Home page
2 - About us
3 - Site map
4 - Publications
5 - Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
6 - Media centre
7 - Complaints procedure
8 - Terms and conditions
9 - Contact us
0 - Access key details
Forms
All forms have been made accessible using labels that are explicitly associated with the text boxes, radio buttons and checkboxes that make up these forms.
Text
Use of text
Where possible, and without compromising design, text has been used instead of images on this website. Navigation, page titles and subtitles, links and other elements have all been created using accessible html text.
Text size
To allow full user control over how text appears on screen, this site has been created using relative text sizes. Follow the instructions below to resize the text in your browser or use the resizing tool at the top of each page.
If you are using Internet Explorer
Click Tools > Internet Options > Accessibility. Check the 'ignore font sizes specified by Web pages' box. More detailed information is available on Microsoft's web site.
If you are using Firefox
Click Edit > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts. Change size (pixels) to preferred settings
Older versions of Netscape may not allow you to override this web site's font size settings. A solution could be to upgrade to a more recent version of the Netscape browser.
If you are using Opera
Click File > Preferences > Fonts & Colors. Change minimum font sizes as desired. If you are using other browsers, or cannot change font sizes, please view help information that is provided. This can usually be found within the browser software itself.
Contrast and colour
Contrast
The site has been tested to ensure that pages provide sufficient contrast when viewed by users with colour blindness or when viewed on a black and white screen.
Colour
No information is conveyed through colour alone.
Abbreviations and acronyms
All abbreviations or acronyms have been identified with either an <ABBR> or <ACRONYM> HTML tag. They are displayed as a dotted underline and by placing the cursor over it, a tooltip appears explaining the corresponding definition.
Link context
Some browsers for example JAWS, Lynx and Opera can extract the list of links on a page and allow the user to browse the list separately. For this reason, wherever possible, links are written to make sense out of context.
Images
Alt text
All content images include descriptive ALT text attributes. Structural graphics have been given null ALT text attributes.
Alternative formats
If you require an Audit Scotland publication in an alternative format and/or language, please contact us to discuss your needs. Publications are also available in digital format, as PDF and RTF documents, from our website, and we try to ensure these are as accessible as possible. PDFs on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free.
Some documents on our site are produced using Microsoft Word, as they include forms or checklists. As Microsoft Word Viewer is no longer available to view these documents for free, you can install the Word mobile app to read these if you do not have Microsoft Office.
Podcasts
We produce sound files to accompany most reports which take the form of a short questions and answers session. These files are in MP3 format and can be played on any standard media player.
We also provide transcripts for these for the benefit of hearing impaired users. As well as aiding accessibilty, these podcasts are intended to provide an introduction, in clear, plain language, to the content of our reports so that people can approach the main body of our work with greater confidence.
Videos
On some pages we have embedded videos from Youtube and Vimeo. Users of voice control software may have difficulty using some of the controls with the embedded video. Unfortunately we have no control over these video controls.
Video content produced by Audit Scotland includes the facility to display captions, however other Youtube content created by third parties is outwith our control and may not include this facility.
Get more help using Youtube videos
Get more help using Vimeo videos
Home page carousel
Within the carousel on the Audit Scotland home page are some links that when hovered over with a mouse, display some extra text content. If you are using voice commands to browse the site you may find it difficult to view this extra text. The text is a short summary of the content that the carousel item is linking to and if you navigate to the link that the carousel item is wrapped in you can read the full content.
Links within our Twitter feed
The Audit Scotland website draws content from Twitter which may include links without descriptive text. We have no control over the construction of these links.
Unsupported browsers
Our website may not display properly on Internet Explorer version 8 or earlier versions. We recommend upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer, or trying a different browser if you have any problems.
Further information
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
International standards organisation, part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)