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Accessibility statement for the Researcher Access Service

Find out how we're making the Researcher Access Service as accessible as possible.

Accessibility statement for the Researcher Access Service

This accessibility statement applies to:

A separate Accessibility statement is available for the RDS website.

This service is built on Appian technology and operated by Research Data Scotland (RDS). We strive for inclusivity in all areas of our work, including our digital services.

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

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% 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
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • access the website on smaller devices

We’ve also made the website’s text as simple to understand as we can. 

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

 

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible, for example:

  • Some images and interactive elements lack proper descriptions 
  • Some error messages fail to describe the problem or give any guidance for correcting it
  • Some sections of the website are difficult to navigate with assistive technologies
  • Some pages don’t provide for readability or keyboard-only use 
  • Some parts of the website use colour as the only means of conveying information
  • Some pages cannot be resized via the standard browser controls

More information on the accessibility issues appears in the section on non-accessible content, below. 

 

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille, feel free to contact us: 

 

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within two days. 

 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website 

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that we haven’t listed on this page, or if you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, we’d love to hear from you.

Please send an email to info@researchdata.scot in which you describe the problem and tell us which page you were using when it happened.

 

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, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). 

 

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

You are welcome to contact us in advance, so that we can arrange reasonable accommodation for your visit. For example, you will be able to request a space with low lighting or low noise levels, or you can ask us to arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. You can also use our Contact us page.

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Research Data Scotland is committed to making its digital services accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

 

Compliance status 

The Researcher Access Service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below. 

 

Non-accessible content

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

 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

This section lists the key ways in which this service fails to meet the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.2 success criteria. It includes all violations of A and AA success criteria and all issues that the testing found to be serious or critical. It included minor issues only if they relate to a Level A criterion. The issues appear in numerical order of the applicable success criteria. 

 

Some meaningful images and components of the service do not contain suitable alternative text. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criterion: 1.1.1 (Non-text content, Level A). We plan to ensure that all non-decorative images and components on the website have meaningful alt text by 15 February 2025.  

 

Some pages of the service have inconsistent headings, which affects the readability when the user is using assistive technologies. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criteria: 1.1.1 (Non-text content, Level A), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships, Level A), 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks, Level A), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels, Level AA), 3.3.2 (Label or Instructions, Level A). We plan to ensure that by 15 February 2025 all headings will be consistent.

 

The main content within some parts of the service is structured in a way which affects the readability when people are using assistive technologies. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships, Level A), 1.4.10 (Reflow, Level AA), 2.4.2 (Page Titled, Level A), 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context), Level A), 3.3.2 (Label or Instructions, Level A). We plan to ensure that the structure of all content is compatible with assistive technologies by 15 February 2025.

 

There are several instances of broken ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) references, making it difficult for navigation with assistive technologies. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criteria: 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships, Level A), 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value, Level A). We plan to ensure that by 15 February 2025 all icons and widgets will be recognised by assistive technologies. 

 

Some text input fields are missing the auto-complete function. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criterion: 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose, Level AA). We plan to ensure that auto-complete will be available for all applicable input fields by 15 February 2025.

 

Some parts of the service use colour as the only means of conveying information. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 success criterion: 1.4.1 (Use of Colour, Level A). We plan to ensure that, by 15 February 2025, all parts of the website that use colour to convey information will use at least one other means as well. 

 

Some pages cannot be resized using standard browser controls but require the use of assistive technologies. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criterion: 1.4.4 (Resize text, level AA). We plan to ensure that by 15 February 2025 entire text of all pages can be resized using browser controls. 

 

Some parts of the service cannot be accessed by keyboard when the screen reader is on. This fails WCAG 2.2 criterion: 2.1.1 (Keyboard, Level A). We plan to ensure that the website can be fully accessible by keyboard when the screen reader is on by 15 February 2025.

 

The focus order does not always make sense. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criterion: 2.4.3 (Focus Order, Level A). We plan to ensure that the focus order will be logical by 15 February 2025.

 

Some pages of the service contain multiple links which navigate to the same location but have different names. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criterion: 3.2.4 (Consistent Identification, Level AA). We plan to ensure that all components have consistent names by 15 February 2025.

 

Some parts of the service contain tabbed interfaces and tooltips that are not properly marked for screen readers. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criteria: 3.3.2 (Label or Instructions, Level A), 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value, Level A), 4.1.3 (Status Messages, Level A). We plan to ensure that tabbed interfaces and tooltips will be accessible by screen readers by 15 February 2025.

 

Some parts of the service appear interactive but are not identifiable by assistive technologies. This fails the following WCAG 2.2 criterion: 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value, Level A). We plan to ensure that these elements will be available to assistive technologies by 15 February 2025.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to monitor how this service meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard and will update this statement when we find or fix any accessibility issues. 

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was published on 15 February 2024.  

This service was last tested via audit on 18 January 2024. The audit was carried out by Nexer Digital Ltd.

 

We chose the pages to audit based on the following user journeys:  

  1. Submit an enquiry
  2. Submit an application for data access
  3. An extra random sample of pages, as guided by the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) (www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/conformance/wcag-em) 

 

The audit assessed the following pages and functions: 

  1. Your details
  2. Select datasets
  3. Declaration
  4. Enquiry form submitted
  5. Applicant’s home page
  6. Researcher Access Service – Enquiry – Progress triage modal
  7. Login (all users)
  8. Researcher Access Service – Applications
  9. Researcher Access Service – Tasks
  10. Application Details – Enquiry tab
  11. Application Details – Application tab
  12. Application Details – Comments tab
  13. Application Details – Documents tab
  14. Application Details – Tasks tab
  15. User Menu – Profile
  16. User Menu – Settings
  17. Applicant – Update details modal
  18. Data Analyst role – Review application
  19. Data Analyst role – Review application progress
  20. Research Coordinator role – Review application
  21. Data Analyst role – Start data assembly
  22. Applicant – Upload user agreement
  23. Senior Manager role – review agreement
  24. RAS Approval Pathway role - review tasks
  25. Project Support role - review tasks

The audit used the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.2, levels A and AA, to determine how accessible the selected pages are.

 

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.  

Where we have identified any third-party copyright information, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

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