The University of Edinburgh's rare and unique collections catalogue online.
Website accessibility statement in line with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018
This accessibility statement applies to: https://collections.ed.ac.uk/
This website is run by Library and University Collections Directorate, Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
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:
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:
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 will consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
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
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 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Contact Scotland BSL service details
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.
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 version 2.1
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria:
At this time, we believe all items are within our control. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution, or significant improvement, will be in place for those items within our control by March 2024.
We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.
At this time, we do not believe that any content is outside the scope of the accessibility regulations.
At this time, we believe all items are within our control. We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted to deliver a solution or suitable workaround. We are looking to move this site to a new content management system within the next 12 months and will be working to ensure this resolves the accessibility issues. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place for those items within our control by March 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.
This statement was first prepared in November 2019. It was last reviewed on 1st March 2023.
This website was first tested in November 2019 and reviewed on 15th September 2021 and again on 1st March 2023. The testing was initially carried out by The University of Edinburgh Library and University Collections Digital Library Development team using the automated Wave WEBAIM and Little Forest testing tool. The testing in October 2022 included full manual as well as automated testing.
The website was last tested by the Digital Library team, Library and University Collections, University of Edinburgh in March 2023. This was primarily using Internet Explorer (OS Build 19043.1586) alongside Mozilla Firefox (91.8.0esr), Microsoft Edge (100.0.1185.36) and Google Chrome (100.0.4896.88) for comparative purposes.
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 Little Forest then manual testing that included:
Since our first evaluation and statement, which was based on automated testing, we have undertaken extensive manual testing. This includes utilising a range of assistive technology to ensure we have a clear picture of the accessibility issues and how best to resolve them.