Honours Project Portal

Accessibility Statement for Biomedical Sciences Honours Project Portal

Accessibility statement in line with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

This accessibility statement applies to: hpp.is.ed.ac.uk

This website is run by the Learning Applications Development Team at The University of Edinburgh.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means:

  • using your browser settings, change most colours, contrast levels and fonts while retaining most functionality;
  • navigate most of the website using the keyboard or via speech command technology (including Dragon NaturallySpeaking)
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of Job Access with Speech (JAWS), NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) and VoiceOver)
  • the site does not use any scrolling, flashing or moving text
  • You can keyboard navigate to most of the content
  • Use the website without encountering any time limits

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

Customising the Application

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 Application is

  • It is not possible to magnify all text to 200% on all pages without loss of content
  • Not all pages reflow to 400%
  • Not all non text content has alt text
  • Its is not always clear where you have navigated to by keyboard.
  • Not all colour contrasts meet current standards
  • the site must be used in portrait mode for mobile devices.
  • The user is not alerted if links will open a pop out or new browser tab
  • Users are not always alerted when they enter data in an incorrect format

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 will consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this application

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this service. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us:

We will 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

Technical information about this application’s accessibility

The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its websites and web applications accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This application is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed in the product’s accessibility statements and the list below.

The full guidelines are available:

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Some non-text content presented to users lacks alternative text.
  • It is not possible to view the application in landscape mode on a mobile device
  • There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours especially where the text size is small.
  • It is not always possible to resize pages to 200% without loss of content
  • Content cannot be presented without loss of information or functionality, and requires scrolling in two dimensions up t0 400%
  • It is not always clear to users where they have tabbed to using keyboard only.
  • Pop-ups appear without the user being alerted.
  • Data input errors are not always automatically detected and / or suggestions for correction are not given to users

We believe all items within the portal are within our control, and will work to resolve issues and make improvements by November 2025. One feature for admin users is TinyMCE® and this sits out with our control. Where required we will work with the supplier, Tiny Technologies Inc, to resolve any issues, obtaining timeframes in which they expect these issues will be fixed.

Disproportionate burden

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems within our control would be a disproportionate burden to fix.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

At this time we are not claiming that any content is out with the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted, working to deliver a solution or suitable workaround. Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution or significant improvement will be in place for those items within our control by November 2025.

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.

Please note, there is one feature available only to admin level users which is not within our control, TinyMCE® editor. This is available to a very small number of users. TinyMCE® is free to use and when we tested it, we didn’t find any accessibility issues, however we will retest every time we review the accessibility statement.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 3rd November 2023. It was last reviewed on 18th November 2024

This website was last tested in November 2023. The test was carried out by the Digital Learning Applications and Media Team, Learning teaching and Web, Information Services Group at the University of Edinburgh. The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Microsoft Edge alongside Mozilla Firefox 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 manually tested the following functionality:

  • 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;
  • 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);
  • Whether users have to input the same information multiple times;
  • Whether there is any functionality on the site that requires drag functionality;
  • Consistency of help information.

Change Log

18th November 2024 - Improved structure of accessibility statement to bring it inline with government recommendations.