The Data Lab

Accessibility Statement for The Data Lab 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://www.thedatalab.com/

This website is run by The Data Lab, 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:

  • using browser settings, change colours, contrast levels and fonts;
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen;
  • use the website without encountering any time limits;
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.

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:

  • Not all non-text content has alternative text;
  • Accessing all content may not be possible by using the keyboard alone e.g. the cookie banner
  • It is not always straightforward where users where have navigated to on the page with the keyboard as there is not clear focus on the item you have tabbed too
  • The system is not full compatible with screen reader software, such as JAWS
  • Pop-ups open without warning users;
  • Links open in new tabs without warning users;
  • Not all colour contrasts meet recommended guidance;
  • Some content is conveyed in colour only;
  • Not all hyperlinks are meaningful hypertext;
  • Tooltips are not enabled by default on all relevant items;
  • Some items move and cannot be paused or stopped by the user;
  • Not all buttons are correctly labelled;

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:

We’ll 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’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact:

We’ll 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 from 8.00am to 12.00am, 7 days a week.

contactSCOTLAND-BSL service details

Visiting us in person

If you are visiting us in person, please visit AccessAble for information on accessibility at Bayes Centre. Among other accessibility facilities, we:

  • have automatic front doors and lifts
  • have level access
  • provide an Assistive listening / hearing enhancement system at Reception
  • have an accessible, gender neutral toilet

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 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:

A complete solution or significant improvement will be in place by August 2024 where the issues are 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 regulation

At this time we believe all content is within the scope of the regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted, alongside working to deliver a solution or suitable workaround. We are working towards solving these problems that are within our control, and expect several improvements by August 2024.

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 1st September 2023. It was last reviewed on 3rd September 2023.

This website was last tested by the University of Edinburgh Disability Information Team in August 2023 using both automated and manual methods. The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Microsoft Edge (103.0.1264.37) alongside Mozilla Firefox (91.9.1esr) and Google Chrome.

Recent world-wide usage levels survey for different screen readers and browsers shows that Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are increasing in popularity and Google Chrome is now the favoured browser for screen readers:

WebAIM: Screen Reader User Survey

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

We ran automated testing using WAVE WebAIM and then manual testing that included:

  • Spell check functionality;
  • Scaling using different resolutions and reflow;
  • Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour, etc);
  • Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps;
  • Data validation;
  • Warning of links opening in new tab or window;
  • Information conveyed in the 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, Windows Magnifier, ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking, TalkBack and VoiceOver);
  • Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content;
  • Time limits;
  • Compatibility with mobile accessibility functionality (Android and iOS).

Change Log

The following points have been amended from our previous accessibility statement, reviewed in 2021:

  • Not all prerecorded audio-only or video-only media will have alternative media that presents equivalent information e.g. audio track with description of the action in a video with no sound
    1.2.1 –  Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)
  • It is not possible for all form fields to be programmatically determined. This means that when using auto-fill functionality for forms not all fields will identify the meaning for input data accurately
    1.3.5 – Identify Input Purpose
  • Not all our PDF documents meet accessibility standards. It is not possible to programmatically determine the correct reading sequence of some of our PDFs. There is no text alternative to information presented in some of our PDFs. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages by May 2021. We will also try to ensure any new PDFs we publish will meet accessibility standards and where we find any that are not accessible we will rectify this as soon as possible. 
    1.1.1 – Non-text Content
    1.3.2 – Meaningful Sequence
  • Google reCAPTCHA causes an accessibility error due to a missing label. It is possible to interact with and solve the reCAPTCHA using a screen reader. Also using the audio test to solve additional verification works with a screen reader. It worked especially well using the Chrome browser. We are unable to improve this further as this is third party software and not within our control.

The following points have been amended from our most recent accessibility statement, reviewed in 2023:

  • Pink text changed to purple across website and menu text. Removing all pink on grey colouring, to resolve and in ref to: There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours, especially where the text size is very small.
    1.4.3 – Contrast (Minimum)
  • Menu elements no longer overlap on zoom, to resolve issue: beyond a zoom level of 300%, the top menu bar and the site logo overlapped resulting in a loss of content.
  • Colour of the focus outlines has been changed to yellow from light grey to resove issue: Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio.
    2.4.7 – Focus Visible