Accessibility Statement for the Student Chat (Unibuddy) website application

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

This accessibility statement applies to: 

This website is run by the Student Recruitment and Admissions Directors Office at the University of Edinburgh. 

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

  • use the site without time limits 
  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings  
  • use the site without having to repeatedly input information  
  • use the site without the need to drag any content with a mouse   
  • navigate most of the website using voice recognition software e.g. Dragon  

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.

Customising the website

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:  

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:  

If you are a member of University staff or a student, you can use the free SensusAccess accessible document conversion service:  

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:  

  • not all content can be reached when navigating by keyboard  
  • selection displays are not clearly visible or lack contrast  
  • although there is a skip to main content option, it isn’t operable on all pages of the site  
  • some information is conveyed in colour only  
  • speech-to-text assistive software (for example, Dragon NaturallySpeaking) is not necessarily compatible with all browser configurations when using this website  
  • videos do not have human corrected captions or audio description  
  • text-to-speech assistive technology (Job Access with Speech (JAWS)) is not necessarily compatible with all browser configurations when using this website  
  • some non-text items do not contain meaningful alternative text  
  • there are examples of text as an image  
  • there is moving content that cannot be stopped or paused by the user  
  • colour contrasts do not necessarily meet the recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA standard
  • some headings levels are skipped throughout the site  
  • there are pop-ups and new browser tabs that arise without warning  
  • data validation is not enabled on all relevant text fields and there are colour contrast issues with some of the error messages  
  • not all tooltips are enabled and some cannot be reached using keyboard navigation or assistive technology  
  • the help section is not available in the same place on every page of the site  
  • some parts of the website are not fully compatible with mobile accessibility functionality  
  • the site cannot be viewed in landscape 

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

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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’ll 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:  

The government has produced information on how to report accessibility issues:  

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

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.  

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.  

The full guidelines are available at:  

Non accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. 

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations 

The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:

We aim to improve our website's accessibility on a regular and continuous basis. See the section below ('What we're doing to improve accessibility') on how we are improving our site accessibility.   

We are working towards solving these problems and expect significant improvements by June 2025. The site is not within our control.  

Disproportionate burden 

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

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations 

At this time, we believe there is no content which is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to address the accessibility issues highlighted, working alongside the software suppliers for Unibuddy 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 July 2025. However, most of the issues are not within our control but sit with Unibuddy. We are in contact with Unibuddy to discuss how best to resolve these issues as soon as possible.  

While we are in the process of resolving these accessibility issues 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.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16th July 2024. It was last reviewed on 17th July 2024.  

The website was last tested on 24th June 2024. The testing was carried out by the Service Management team at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods. 

The site was tested on a PC, primarily using the browsers Microsoft Edge (126.0.2592.56), Firefox (127.0) and Google Chrome (125.0.6422.142). A 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: 

The aforementioned three browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety.  

We ran automated testing using Axe DevTools and then manual testing that included:  

  • 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)
  • any drag functionality and alternatives 
  • consistent help functions
  • no need to re-enter data already submitted
  • any cognitive tests