Accessibility Statement for Children's Hearings Scotland

This accessibility statement applies to the Children's Hearings Scotland (CHS) website. This website is run by CHS.

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

1. change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings.
2. zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen.
3. navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software.
4. 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.

Feedback and contact information

We welcome and value feedback that will help us make our website easier for visitors to use. If you encounter any problems whilst using our website or have any queries or suggestions on making our website more accessible please get in touch with us at communications@chs.gov.scot.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact us. Do so by:

1. emailing communications@chs.gov.scot, or;
2. calling 0131 244 3696.

We'll consider your request with within three working days and we will aim to reply within 20 working days. Please note it may not be possible to meet the timescales in every case but we will keep you updated throughout the process.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) is committed to ensuring that our website is accessible to all of our visitors. Our website has been developed to comply with the accessibility regulations above, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2).

Compliance status

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

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with accessibility regulations

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

At 400% zoom and in mobile view on latest news, the webpage does not flow correctly. (WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow)

Interactive controls within the title banner on our website are nested. (WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value)

Elements i.e. links on webpages throughout the website do not have sufficient colour contrast. (WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum))

Components including carousels containing role="img" do not have alternative text. (WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content)

Links do not have discernible text. (WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value)

The carousel at the top of our home page cannot be paused, stopped or hidden. (WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide)

Documents including PDFs and Word files are not in every case accessible.

Disproportionate Burden

We believe that to fix issues on the current platform would constitute a disproportionate burden. We reach this decision as we prepare for the procurement of our web supplier contract during 2024. 

Read our Disproportionate Burden Statement to learn more about how we will address accessibility issues on this website.

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

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 CHS Equality Mainstreaming and Outcomes 2016-18.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Our Communications and Digital teams will support staff to curate content with accessibility in mind. This will include future PDF documents being fully checked for appropriate tagging and annotation, correct reading order and colour contrast. Our team will ensure all staff, with responsibility in curating documents, are aware of our legal responsibility to ensure content is accessible.

We will explore alternative file formats, for uploading onto this website. Those include HTML and OpenDocument.

We will require prospective web suppliers to evidence and demonstrate how their proposed web solutions will meet WGAG 2.2 A and AA success criteria. This will occur when our supplier contract is up for renewal in 2024.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 26/01/24. It was last reviewed on 07/03/24. The CHS website was last tested on 07/03/24.

The test was carried out by CHS. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by our website team and via manual tests. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

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).