Accessibility statement for Outer Hebrides Heritage Service

This accessibility statement applies to the Outer Hebrides Heritage Service website: https://www.outerhebridesheritage.org.uk/

This website is run by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. 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.

Browser Support

This website aims to support the latest version of most modern browsers.  For the best browsing experience we strongly recommend you use the latest versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera or Safari. NB: Internet Explorer is not supported.

Changing Colours, Font, Text Size and Other Browser Settings

In order to maximise accessibility, most, if not all, modern browsers allow you to tailor your browsing experience by changing settings such as colours, font and text size.

Access Keys

• S – Skip Navigation
• 1 – Home Page
• 2 – Visit Us
• 3 – Discover
• 4 – Services
• 5 – Collections
• 6 – Community Heritage
• 7 – About
• 8 – Search
• 9 – Contact Us
• 0 – Accessibility

How access keys are invoked depends both on the operating system you are using and your particular browser, e.g.,

MS Windows Edge

1. Hold the ALT key
2. Press the access key
3. Release both the ALT key and the access key and press return

MS Windows Firefox

1. Hold the Shift and ALT key
2. Press the access key

Macintosh

1. Hold the CTRL key
2. Press the access key
3. Release both the CTRL key and the access key and press return

How accessible this website is

Accessibility Issues

A few parts of this website are non-compliant:

• Some PDF and MS Word documents are not fully accessible
• Some tables spill off the screen and/or do not support an appropriate reading sequence
• Some audio and video streams are neither captioned nor accompanied by a transcript
• Focus highlighting does not work correctly for the news items in the footer.  Using the tab key does not move automatically to the news article links.  We are working to fix this.

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 enquiries@cne-siar.gov.uk
• call 01851 600501

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, please Contact Us or email enquiries@cne-siar.gov.uk.

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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-accessible Content

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

PDFs and Other Documents

Some of our older PDF and MS Word documents do not meet accessibility standards. (They fail WCAG 2.1 success criteria listed under Guidelines 2.4 – Navigable and/or 1.1.1 Non-text Content.) Other than those subject to exemption (see below), we aim to either update the documents or replace them with accessible HTML pages by September 2022.

Tables

Some tables require both vertical and horizontal scrolling (They fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion Guideline 1.4.10 – Reflow) and may not support an appropriate reading sequence (They fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion Guideline 1.3.2 – Meaningful Sequence.) We aim to either update, replace or provide an alternative presentation of the data by September 2022.

Audio / Video

Some audio and video streams are neither captioned nor accompanied by a transcript (They fail WCAG 2.1 success criteria listed under Guideline 1.2 – Time-based Media). Other than those subject to exemption (see below), we aim to remove non-compliant content or provide appropriate transcripts for all audio content by September 2022.

Content Not Within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations

The following content is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations  (Opens in a new window or downloads a file).

PDFs and Other Documents

The accessibility regulations do not require us to address issues with office file formats, such as Adobe PDF or Microsoft Office  documents, published before 23 September 2018. This does not apply to documents that are essential to providing our services, e.g., we do aim at replacing any active office file format forms that do not currently meet accessibility requirements.

Documents Supplied by Third Parties

In some cases, we are obliged to publish original documents provided by third parties. The content and format of these documents is outwith our control. For example, documents supplied in support of certain applications.

Archive Content

We maintain an archive of old committee agendas and reports, predominantly based on PDF documents that may not meet accessibility guidelines. We also maintain an archive of committee audio files that are not accompanied by a transcription. We do not plan to update these elements where they were created or edited before 23rd September 2019 as they are exempt. 

Live Audio and Video Streams

Live committee audio and video streams are not captioned. (This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 Captions (Live)). We do not plan to add captions to the live audio or video stream as this is exempt.

Mapping

We serve both static and dynamic maps within some of our pages and via our Address Checker application. As presented, this functionality is exempt.

Heritage Collections

We host some heritage content, manuscripts and maps, that can not be readily presented in an accessible format. We do not plan to update these elements as they are exempt.

Payments Portal

Our payments portal is a third-party hosted system. Some of this content is not fully accessible. This application is neither funded nor developed by us, and is not under our control. As such, it is exempt.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 18th November 2020. It was last reviewed on 9th January 2023.

This website is regularly tested by Google Lighthouse.