Accessibility statement (website)

• Some older Microsoft Office and PDF documents on our website are not fully accessible to screen reader software. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content. In 2021–22 we created and implemented accessible document templates supported by organisation-wide training. All new Microsoft Office and PDF documents uploaded to our website are created using our accessible templates.

• Some of our online forms are not fully accessible to screen reader software. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships. Where possible, we use custom-built HTML web forms for our programme applications. However, we also rely on Word document forms and third-party tools such as SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and Microsoft forms. In 2022, we audited our existing custom-built forms and invested in development work to create a reusable form builder on our website. This means we will be less reliant on third-party tools. The audit also identified more specific accessibility and user experience issues which we are working to resolve. We continue to ensure that alternative methods of completing forms remain available while we investigate new solutions and finalise development work.

• The focus indicator is not visible in certain website sections. This means that users who rely on keyboard navigation or who have visual impairments may be prevented from navigating and operating certain sections of the website and participating in our programmes. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible. In 2023, we implemented a solution that covered most of our website, and are continuing to identify and fix impacted areas as a high priority, including forms and our video player controls.

• Select areas of the website are difficult to navigate using keyboard navigation only and screen reader technology. Areas affected include but are not limited to forms, the cookie consent banner, and some carousels. This fails WCAG success criteria 2.4.3 Focus Order and 2.4.7 Focus Visible. We have raised individual issues within our accessibility report and are working with our digital agency to fix them.

• Dynamic content that changes based on user input is not evident for screen reader users. This fails WCAG success criteria 2.4.3 Focus Order and 3.2.2 On Input and means individuals who are blind or have low vision may have difficulty knowing when a visual context change has occurred. This issue impacts areas such as forms, filtered pages and carousels.

• We use Soundcloud embeds for audio content on the website. As SoundCloud is a third-party platform, we cannot guarantee the accessibility of the audio player and are aware that the embed has some issues, including but not limited to: focus indicator visibility; screen reader announcements; missing iframe titles; difficulty selecting controls for assistive technology users. This fails multiple WCAG success criteria. Scottish Book Trust is currently investigating Soundcloud's accessibility and whether we have the ability to make necessary improvements or will need to consider an alternative audio player solution.

• Page title tags are not always unique. This makes it difficult for assistive technology users to identify their current location and the topic or purpose of a given webpage, failing WCAG success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled. We are addressing this issue as part of ongoing Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) work and will update this statement once page title tags have been updated.

• Labels and instructions are not always provided when content requires user input. This issue affects search bars and filters on the homepage and our live literature author directory and means users may not be aware what input data is expected. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions.

• Multilanguage content is not optimised for screen reader or other accessible technologies. Our website’s language is set to British English but also contains content in Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Punjabi, Mandarin and Polish. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page and means accessible technology will not interact correctly with the content.

Some pre-recorded videos published after 23 September 2020 do not have captions. The absence of captions prevents deaf and hearing impaired people from accessing video content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded). Scottish Book Trust has since updated its content upload process so that all pre-recorded videos are uploaded with captions.

Due to current resources, we cannot guarantee all pre-recorded videos on the website have captions but we will ensure all future content is captioned. We encourage users to get in touch if there is a specific video they need captions for and we will accommodate such requests as quickly as possible.

Some of our digital versions of print documents are not fully accessible. We provide digital versions of some of our print resources (e.g. posters, badges etc.) for users to download, print and use at home. Some of these documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software as they are designed for physical rather than digital use.

For new content, we will clearly signpost when documents are intended for physical use and any limitations for screen reader users. We will always aim to prepare digital versions of print resources in line with digital and print accessibility guidelines.

Our Digital Team carries out testing internally on our websites and apps once a year using the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. In addition to a range of manual and automated tests on sample pages, we use Silktide, a quality assurance platform, to monitor our whole website more regularly.

We use the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) as a guide for defining the scope of our internal testing. Our sample of content includes a minimum of one sample page from all main page types to ensure we test the website's full functionality.

The page types selected for the testing sample are:

• Homepage

• Sign in

• Dashboard

• Standard page

• Landing page

• Bookbug landing page

• Topic

• Article

• View all articles by

• Meet the team

• Learning resource

• Song and rhyme library

• Song and rhyme

• Authors Live on Demand library

• Authors Live individual page

• Competition

• Opportunities for writers

• Browse and search

• Donate

• Newsletter sign up

• Book list

• Live Literature Author Directory

• Live Literature Author Directory profile

• Application form

• Quiz

• Custom form

Silktide checks pages against the WCAG 2.1 criteria, including A, AA and AAA conformance targets.

Some examples of automated checks carried out by Silktide include but are not limited to:

• Ensure controls change appearance when they are selected

• Insufficient colour contrast

• Missing alternative descriptions on images

• Form field labels

• Silktide also provides guidance on recommended assisted checks, or manual tests. This is because monitoring platforms like Silktide can only find some accessibility issues, and human review is still necessary.

Therefore, the selected pages were also checked using manual testing to ensure common issues related to automatic check errors were identified. For example:

• Ensure functionality is available to keyboard users

• Check if text should be marked as a heading

• Use of colour for meaning

• Relevant alternative descriptions on images, e.g. correctly defining images as decorative

• Ensure users can pause or hide animated content

The representative sample of pages was also tested using the following screen reader technology across both desktop and mobile devices:

• NDVA and Firefox

• Voiceover and Safari

• TalkBack and Chrome for Android