Accessibility Statement
This accessibility statement applies to foodstandards.gov.scot.
This website is run by Food Standards Scotland. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Recite Me accessiblity tool
We have added a toolbar to this website to help users access information in the way that suits them.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- the text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- the education interactive games are not accessible
- the campaign interactive games are not accessible
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible
- some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
- you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, email our Enquiries Mailbox or call 01224 285100 and tell us:
- the web address (URL) of the content
- your name and email address
- the format you need, for example, audio CD, braille, BSL or large print, accessible PDF
We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 5 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re 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, contact our Digital Team.
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).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
For people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment please use the Contact Scotland Service for phoning us.
If you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Food Standards Scotland is committed to making its website 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 version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances’ listed below.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
The content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:
- where it fails the success criteria
- planned dates for when issues will be fixed
Interactive games
Crazy kitchen’, ‘Hazards in the kitchen’ and ‘Bacteria Busters’ are not accessible and fail the following success criteria:
- the games rely on visual cues to complete. This fails success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content) and 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
- users must operate the games using only landscape desktops, this fails success criterion 1.3.4 (Orientation).
- users relies entirely on shape, colour, size and visual cues to operate the games which fails success criterion 1.3.3 (Sensory Characteristics).
- the page does not reflow which fails success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).
- the Voice Over and tab options are hidden from view which fails success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard).
These games will require a redesign and rebuild and we are currently investigating how to make this fully accessible and will have an update by April 2021.
- ‘Storage Solutions’, ‘What Goes Where’ and ‘Fridge Facts’ are not accessible and fail the following success criteria’s:
- the game relies solely on visual cues. This fails success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
- the game is not keyboard accessible which fails success criterion 2.1 (keyboard).
- some elements of the games do not use correct semantic markup (external links / buttons) to indicate functionality which fails success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose).
These games will require a redesign and rebuild and we are currently investigating how to make this fully accessible and will have an update by April 2021.
YouTube videos
Not all of our YouTube videos have captions, but we aim to have captions on all videos by April 2021.
Forms
Our interactive forms may not be accessible. For example, the alert subscriptions sign-up form and reporting a food incident form.
Disproportionate burden
Interactive games
Allergy Meal Match relies on click and drag and visual cues to complete the game. This game was created for play at Food Standards Scotland events where a member of staff will be around to help the player with the game. We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues and the game would need a significant redevelopment.
We believe that rebuilding the game would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations because the game has been designed for play at events, and so the number of people using the game will be significantly lower than other interactive games.
Campaign games
Kitchen Crimes interactive game would require substantial development work to make it accessible. The Kitchen Crimes interactive was developed in 2018 for a campaign that ran in 2018 and 2019. We do not have current plans to re-run the campaign.
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues and we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
Say No To Upsizing interactive game would require rebuilding and redesigning in order to make the game accessible. The game relies on quick mouse clicks, tracking visual cues, and fine motor coordination to complete the game. The Say No To Upsizing interactive was developed in 2018 to promote FSS’s No To Upsizing campaign that ran in 2018 and 2019. We do not have current plans to re-run the campaign.
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues and we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some documents may not be fully accessible, including some in PDF, Word and Excel formats.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix Board papers, enforcement letters and research documents.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 8 October 2020. It was last reviewed on 8 October 2020.
This website was last tested on March 16 2020 with a full audit. The audit was carried out by Whitespace who manually reviewed each page listed below visually, using tab keys and the Mac Voice Over screen reader. The WAVE Chrome browser extension was used as a support resource, but issues raised there were verified with manual testing.
The audit was completed against WCAG 2.1.
The pages that were tested include:
- Home (includes global navigation, review and footer)
- Gateway (food safety)
- Content page with side navigation and related items (Sugar)
- Campaign page
- Education resource gateway page
- Education resource page (Bacteria Busters)
- Education resource page (Crazy kitchen)
- Campaign interactive resource
- Publications page
- Events listing page
- Search Results
- Local Authority page
- Publications search
- Full width content page
This testing was done by someone without visual, auditory, or colour impairments, and is not a replacement for testing with users who use assistive technologies in their day to day lives.
