Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to the Parent Club website. The Parent Club website is run by the Scottish Government.

Parent Club is committed to making our website accessible to as many people as possible. So, we are continually striving to enhance the accessibility and usability of our website. You should be able to: 

• Use your web browser to change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• Navigate most the website using just a keyboard
• Navigate most 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)
• Access the website using a mobile or tablet.

We know that some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

• Carousels on various pages are not fully accessible, as off-screen carousel elements are not included in the focus order, making it difficult for screen reader users to navigate these elements effectively.
• Some document attachments are not written in plain English.
• Some documents in PDF format are not accessible.

We want to find ways to improve the accessibility of this website. Please tell us if you need information in a different format.

In your message, include:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your email address and name
• the format you need, for example, plain text, braille, BSL, large print or audio.

If you find any problems or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact parentclub@gov.scot with the details.

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).

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard. The content listed below is non-accessible with accessibility regulations for the following reasons.

Some pre-recorded video content does not have text alternatives such as a transcript. This also applies to our pre-recorded audio content. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria 1.2.1 (Audio-only and Video-only). 

We plan to add captions and transcripts to all pre-recorded video content and audio content by 2025. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of videos and audio content meets accessibility standards.

Some pre-recorded video content does not have an audio description. The way the content is presented affects its meaning, and a correct reading sequence is not programmatically determined. This fails WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria 1.2.3 ( Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-recorded) and 1.2.5 (Audio Description (Prerecorded)).

When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of videos meets accessibility standards.

Carousels are disputed from a usability perspective because their content can be hard to discover. The keyboard position (“focus”) is managed in a reasonable fashion. Keyboard users can use the “next” and “previous” slider buttons via Arrow keys to scroll through the carousel; however, they will need to use the Shift + Tab keys to navigate through a new group of items. Carousel changes are not announced to screen readers, so users may need to check manually for new content on the screen. This fails WCAG success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value), and 4.1.3 (Status Message).

Disproportionate burden

We are not claiming that any of our accessibility issues are disproportionate to fix.

PDFs and Office file formats

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. Where documents are updated and new PDF documents published, they will meet accessibility standards.

Recent audits have identified several accessibility issues on the Parent Club website, including functional challenges with interactive elements, focus management, and screen reader compatibility. We are actively working to resolve these issues to enhance the overall accessibility and usability of the website.

Key improvements underway include:

• Interactive Elements and Button Functionality: We are refactoring the meal planner buttons to ensure they are correctly associated with their respective content, providing clearer information for screen readers and smoother navigation for keyboard users.
• Button Announcements: We are refining the announcement of certain buttons, such as the search button in the meal planner slide-out, to ensure they are clearly labelled and announced correctly for screen reader users.
• Focus Management and Modals: We are improving focus management on the site to ensure that all interactive elements, such as the cookie modal, remain accessible without obstructing underlying content. This includes preventing focus from becoming “stuck” on modals for users navigating with VoiceOver on iOS.
• Screen Reader Announcements for Dynamic Content: Work is underway to enhance screen reader compatibility for dynamic elements, including carousels. This will ensure changes are announced effectively and that users can easily navigate to new content using a logical focus order.

This statement was prepared on 31 October 24. It was last reviewed on 31 October 24.

This website was last tested on 31 October 24 by User Vision.

User Vision ran an automated test across the site, to detect compliance with WCAG 2.2 (AA). The automated tests were completed using the latest version of WAVE and Accessibility Insights. This was followed by a manual accessibility review of a representative sample of pages and content types and was conducted using assistive technology in accordance with the most used (JAWS and NVDA for desktop, and VoiceOver and Talkback for mobile and tablet).

We are currently implementing changes based on this test and will update this page with new information about the improvements we make.