Accessibility statement

The Scottish Sentencing Council is committed to making its website accessible in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to https://www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk.

 

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

You should be able to:

  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • use most of the website using a screen reader
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen

Non-accessible content

A testing process was carried out by GDS (Government Digital Service) in September 2023 prior to implementation of a previously scheduled upgrade of the website. The report can be found here: https://reports.accessibility-monitoring.service.gov.uk/reports/ef61e229-0f30-4ce1-9570-5cf513c11690

An accessibility audit for this website was then carried out by a third party with relevant sector knowledge on our behalf in November 2023 after the scheduled upgrade was implemented. The audit was carried out using a combination of software tools and manual testing. As a result of the audit, further recommended accessibility changes to the website were reviewed and accepted and some are ongoing.

The website was assessed against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.1.


Outstanding accessibility issues identified in the GDS report are listed below:

  • WCAG 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus: When hovering over the navigation bar dropdown menus, there is no mechanism to dismiss the additional content triggered without moving pointer hover or keyboard focus

  • WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast: When receiving hover, the links in the dropdown menus from the navigation bar, such as 'Aims and Accountability' in the 'About Us' dropdown menu, do not have sufficient colour contrast

  • WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast: The grey links  in the breadcrumb bar do not have sufficient colour contrast

Community payback orders (Home> About sentencing> Community payback orders)

  • WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast: The 'CPO Reports' heading in a grey text box does not have sufficient colour contrast. When receiving focus, the 'Community Payback Orders' link below this does not have sufficient colour contrast

 
News (Home> News)

  • WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast: The categories and dates beneath the article titles, such as 'Recruitment' and '07 September 2023' beneath the article 'Recruitment of Council advocate member', do not have sufficient colour contrast


Statutory offences of causing death by driving - report on public consultation exercise PDF 

(www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk/media/0wknsod0/statutory-offences-of-causing-death-by-driving-consultation-councils-report.pdf)

  • WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content: The document has elements that do not have alternative text, such as the social media logos on page 1 and the image below 'Chair's foreword' on page 3

  • WCAG 2.4.2 Page title: The page title is missing within the document settings

 

Other PDF documents on the website may contain accessibility barriers similar to those noted above.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

The Council is working with its website developer to upgrade the parts of the website identified by GDS in September 2023 and by the audit in November 2023 which are still outstanding and listed above. We will seek to identify any other outstanding accessibility issues and set out a timeline for resolving them after the current phase of work is complete.


Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 24 January 2024.

The statement was last reviewed on 24 January 2024.

An updated statement will be prepared when the current phase of upgrades are complete, currently anticipated to be prior to April 2024.


Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Council’s secretariat by email sentencingcouncil@scotcourts.gov.uk or telephone 0300 790 0006.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille contact the Council’s secretariat by email sentencingcouncil@scotcourts.gov.uk or telephone 0300 790 0006.

We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as is practicable and within 20 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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).