Food Standards Scotland Accessibility and Inclusive Communications (AIC) Plan 2024-2026

Listed below are the goals and actions that FSS will address over the next two years. These have been developed to ensure all members of the public can easily access the guidance and information they need from FSS. 

A detailed action plan will be used to monitor progress and outline the specific actions that need to be addressed to achieve each goal. Each action will have a responsible Owner/Owners that sit on the AIC Group, and these will provide regular updates to the Group. They are expected to oversee their allocated action/s and will be supported by colleagues from across FSS to deliver them in a timely manner. 

Where there are risks to delivery, these will be highlighted at the Group meetings.

Enhance awareness and understanding of the importance of  accessibility and inclusive communications and embed best practice and a  collective responsibility right across the organisation. 

Actions: 

• Explore and introduce suitable mandatory accessibility training for all FSS employees and include this in HR induction packs.
• Seek opportunities from external contributors and/or organisations/groups who can share their knowledge and experiences of accessibility and inclusion with FSS employees.
• Encourage all staff to promote the different ways that members of the public and stakeholders can communicate with FSS. This includes FSS’s dedicated accessibility email accessibility@fss.scot and Contact Scotland BSL national video interpreting video relay service.
• Promote the work of the AIC cross-office group internally.

Provide resources for colleagues to ensure content is accessible and inclusive.

Actions: 

• Update the FSS brand guidelines to ensure these are accessible.
• Develop and maintain accessibility guidance documents for staff.
• Develop a suite of accessible templates and share these with staff.
• Encourage staff to use accessibility function in Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook) to check the accessibility of tasks they are working on.

Ensure contracted third-party organisations and suppliers comply with accessibility and inclusive communications regulations/ requirements across all outputs.

Actions:

• Engage with Shared Services Procurement and FSS procurement colleagues to ensure accessibility is a key consideration when recruiting third parties and is written into all procurement specifications. Colleagues should stipulate that reports/documents are produced in an accessible format in the supplier brief. Make sure colleagues are empowered to push back to suppliers if what is supplied (e.g. a report) is not accessible.
• Work with existing suppliers to ensure best practice is adopted consistently in output such as research reports and similar documents.
• Development of FSS’s website to ensure accessibility is at the forefront and in line with current legislation.
• Keep the FSS website accessibility statement up to date.

 Identify any new legislation and emerging technologies to be prepared for change.

Actions: 

• Attendance at internal Scottish Government Accessibility Champions group.
• Regular meetings with FSS’s internal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group.
• Parliamentary monitoring to identify any changes in legislation that may require FSS to update policies and practices.
• Regular horizon scanning of emerging technologies that could impact upon how we produce accessible and inclusive information.

Consider specific tactics to communicate with vulnerable and minority groups.

Actions: 

• Consider who the audience is for all communication and consider language translations where there is a distinct need. A recent example would be the vitamin D campaign where translations were done given that research showed that some minority groups are impacted more by a lack of vitamin D.
• Research the development of ‘Easy Read’ documents to make information more accessible to people with learning disabilities and other communication difficulties.
• Develop a procedure for responding to requests for information in alternative formats.

Continue to deliver BSL commitments.

Actions:

•  Integrate content for BSL users across the new FSS website
• Provide BSL/English interpretation at events/Board meetings when requested, where possible.
• Review the FSS BSL Plan 2021-2024.

Strengthen relationships and engagement with key stakeholders/groups.

Action: 

Create ongoing opportunities to engage directly with key stakeholders, including all staff, neurodiversity groups/forums, the BSL community and other relevant groups to seek their views/feedback on FSS’s Accessible and Inclusive Communications Plan and related work.