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  1. Home
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  3. Accessibility Policy

Accessibility Policy

4 minute read • Last published: 5 March 2025

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website.

Our accessibility aims

To achieve this, we are striving towards the following:

Assistive technology compatibility

We aim for the site to be functional with assistive technologies, including screen readers and screen magnification software.

Colour contrast

We are in the process of reviewing our branding and colour palette to ensure elements have sufficient colour contrast between the foreground and background. This will make it easier for individuals with visual impairments or colour deficiencies to read and understand the content.

Clear and consistent layout

We aim to improve the layout of our website with organised headings, sections, and navigation menus. This helps users with cognitive disabilities to comprehend the structure of the content and locate information more easily.

How you should be able to use this website

This website is hosted by VisitScotland. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our websites. For example, you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen.
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
  • navigate most of the website using assistive technologies.

We also make the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible is this website?

Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • A correctly formed heading structure is not always present to facilitate navigation.
  • Some videos on the site may lack an audio alternative or use auto-generated captions.
  • Some pages have poor keyboard navigation, including the site search functionality.
  • The screen reader experience could be enhanced throughout, particularly on mobile devices.
  • The Climate Action Workbook is currently not accessible to screen reader and keyboard users.
  • Our Events Funding Portal, hosted by govService, contains several of the accessibility issues; in particular issues related to PDFs, colour contrast, form validation and keyboard navigation. Read more about govService on granicus.com.

Feedback and contact information

We welcome suggestions and feedback to improve accessibility on this website. If you are experiencing any difficulties accessing the information set out on our pages, please email us at visitscotland@visitscotland.org.

Similarly, if you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at visitscotland@visitscotland.org. Or visit our complaints and feedback page for further info.

We will 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, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Compliance status

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

  1. Videos on some pages do not provide an alternative for time-based media or an audio track. Users with hearing or visual impairments will be unable to access the information within the videos. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.1 (Audio-Only and Video-Only (pre-recorded).
  2. A correctly formed heading structure is not present to facilitate navigation across the site, with empty or non-semantic heading levels present in the cookie policy and article style pages. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks) and 2.4.6 (Heading levels).
  3. The list of items in the site menu on desktop screens is not fully semantic. This may be problematic for users using a screen reader to navigate the content of the site from the menu. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.2.1 (Name, Role, Value).
  4. The auto-populated search results are not always selectable via a keyboard. Further, the focus state when tabbing through the search component prior to any search being conducted, appears illogical. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.1.1 (Keyboard) 2.4.3 (Focus Order).
  5. The site’s skip-to navigation links do not all have a focusable target and are not always displayed correctly above the sticky menu navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks) and 2.4.11 (Focus Not Obscured).

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are committed to making our services accessible and are reviewing how we deliver services to be accessible for all.

We are continually reviewing the accessibility of our websites and will continue to make improvements to bring us in line with the latest regulations.

As part of this, we are working towards transitioning our web estate to our new Design System and adopting our shared component library, which will resolve many of the accessibility issues outlined on this page.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 21/02/2025. It was last reviewed on 05/03/2025. 

Accessibility testing on this site was carried out by VisitScotland. A sample of pages and website components were tested using a combination of automated testing tools and manual testing techniques by our website team.

Further testing will be conducted whilst this site remains in a beta phase and at regular intervals thereafter. An external accessibility audit of the site will be conducted in due course.

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