Accessibility statement for www.nls.uk
This accessibility statement applies to www.nls.uk, auth.nls.uk, digital.nls.uk, movingimage.nls.uk, and maps.nls.uk.
This website is run by the National Library of Scotland. 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 using browser or device settings
- zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using a keyboard or 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.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- not all content is colour contrast compliant
- web pages support resizing of up to 200% zoom only
- some text spacing may not match the minimum requirements for text spacing
- most videos via our built –in player do not have captions or subtitles
- some videos and audio recordings do not have a transcript
- some documents available in portable document format (PDF) are not compliant with assistive technologies
- when navigating with a keyboard, the focus is not clear in some cases
- some parts of our forms are provided by a third party and are not compatible with assistive technologies.
Find out more in the section of this statement entitled 'Technical information about this website's accessibility'.
Feedback and contact information
If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: the Digital Engagement Team via the contact page on our website.
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, contact: the Digital Engagement Team via the contact page on our website.
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
The National Library of Scotland 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
The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
While we work hard to make our platforms and content reach this standard, some content does not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria:
Main website at www.nls.uk
- It is not possible to use a keyboard to access all the content
- Not all pre-recorded audio-only or video-only media will have alternative media that presents equivalent information – for example, audio track with description of the action in a video with no sound
- Not all video will have subtitles or subtitles that identify all speakers as well as noting other significant sounds – for example laughter
- Not all our PDFs meet accessibility standards
We will provide a complete solution or significant improvement by October 2025 at the latest.
'Join' / 'eResources' at auth.nls.uk
- There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours especially where the text size is very small.
- There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours especially where the text size is very small
Digital gallery landing page at digital.nls.uk
This statement applies only to the landing page for the National Library of Scotland Digital Gallery.
- There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours especially where the text size is very small
- Not all our PDFs meet accessibility standards
Moving image archive at movingimage.nls.uk
- It is not possible to use a keyboard to access all the content
- There may not be sufficient colour contrast between font and background colours especially where the text size is very small
- Not all pre-recorded audio-only or video-only media will have alternative media that presents equivalent information – for example, audio track with description of the action in a video with no sound
- Not all video will have subtitles or subtitles that identify all speakers as well as noting other significant sounds – for example laughter
Maps website at maps.nls.uk
- It is not possible to use a keyboard to access all the content
- Not all pre-recorded audio-only or video-only media will have alternative media that presents equivalent information – for example, audio track with description of the action in a video with no sound
- Not all video will have subtitles or subtitles that identify all speakers as well as noting other significant sounds – for example laughter
- Not all our PDFs meet accessibility standards
- Not all forms will have a Submit button
- There are duplicate IDs in lists for some content
- There are not text alternatives for all content
Disproportionate burden
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information on the following subdomains and web applications. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment, likely to be in June 2025.
- 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 digital.nls.uk there are sub-domains (microsites) that may be wholly or in part incompatible with the website accessibility regulations. We are conducting an audit of these sites, with a view to improving accessibility for those sites which are not exempt from the regulations (that is, archived sites).
The content is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Many of our older PDFs do not meet accessibility standards — for example, they may not be structured to make them accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
We are reviewing the accessibility of our PDFs with a view to fixing those that do not meet accessibility standards or providing HTML pages as an alternative. We will also try to ensure any new PDFs we publish will meet the standards.
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.
We currently do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 3 May 2024.
This website was last tested on 3 May 2024 against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. The test was carried out by Màiri Lafferty, Tony Stuart, Chris Fleet, and the Digital Engagement Team at the National Library of Scotland.