Accessibility statement
Find out how we're making the Research Data Scotland website as accessible as possible.
About this statement
This accessibility statement applies to the RDS website available at: https://www.researchdata.scot
The Enquiry form (rds-ras.researchdata.scot/enquiry-form) and the Researcher Access Service (rds-my.researchdata.scot) have their own accessibility statement.
This website is managed by Research Data Scotland (RDS). We strive for inclusivity in all areas of our work, including our website.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, you should be able to do the following:
· change colours, contrast levels and fonts
· zoom in up to 400% 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)
· access the website on smaller devices
We’ve also made the website text as simple to understand as we can.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Accessibility of the RDS website
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
· Some elements of the site have missing or inappropriate alternative text, and some pre-recorded video content has no text description.
· Some text elements have very low contrast with their backgrounds.
· Some parts of the website cannot be used via a keyboard.
· Some link text is not self-explanatory, some pages have adjacent links with the same link text, and some elements identify themselves as links but have no link text.
· Some form elements have duplicate or missing labels, some hidden elements have labels, and some groups of fields have no legend.
· Some pages have duplicate headings, text that looks like headings but is not, or missing heading levels.
· Some elements may be obscured by other elements even though they have focus.
· Some selectable elements are too small to be adequate targets for clicking or tapping, and some are too close to other selectable elements.
· Some required form inputs do not identify themselves as being required.
· Some parts of the website are coded incorrectly and do not work as expected.
More information on the accessibility issues appears in the section on non-accessible content below.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format, such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille, feel free to contact us:
email info@researchdata.scot
call +44 (0)131 460 4170
write Research Data Scotland, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9EF
visit Edinburgh Futures Institute, 1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9EF
You are also welcome to use our Contact Us form.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 2-3 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that we haven’t listed on this page, or if you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, we’d love to hear from you.
Please send us an email in which you describe the problem and tell us which page you were using when it happened. Send this email to info@researchdata.scot.
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, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
You are welcome to contact us in advance, so that we can arrange reasonable accommodation for your visit. For example, you will be able to request a space with low lighting or low noise levels, or you can ask us to arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
You can also get in touch with us through our Contact Us form.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Research Data Scotland is committed to making its websites 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 2.2 AA standard. Version 2.1 is the accessibility standard currently required under the European Accessibility Act (EAA), but work is being done to update the Act to require version 2.2.
In preparation for those updates to the Act, to refer to the updated standard, this statement reports on compliance with WCAG version 2.2. The EAA applies to this website, and this statement is intended to meet the Act’s transparency and information requirements for users.
The site's non-compliances and exemptions to WCAG 2.2 are listed below.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
This section lists the key ways in which this website fails to meet the WCAG 2.1 (where appropriate) and 2.2 success criteria. The list mentions version 2.1 only for non-compliances that did not surface in the current testing against version 2.2.
The list includes all violations of A and AA success criteria and all issues that the testing found to be serious or critical. It includes minor issues only if they relate to a Level A criterion. The issues appear in ascending numerical order of the applicable success criteria.
Some elements of the site have missing, excessive, or inappropriate alternative text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text content). We plan to ensure that all non-text elements have appropriate alt text by April 2027.
Some form elements do not have a corresponding accessible label. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (Non-text content), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels), and 3.3.2 (Label or Instructions). We plan to ensure that all form elements have appropriate labels by April 2027.
Some form labels and names are duplicated, some elements have multiple labels, some labels reference hidden controls, some labels are not associated with a form element, and some labels are hidden from assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.1.1 (Non-text content), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels), 3.3.2 (Label or Instructions), and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). We plan to ensure that all form elements have appropriate labels by April 2027.
Some pre-recorded content lacks a text description of the audio. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-recorded)). We plan to ensure that all pre-recorded audio-visual content has text descriptions / transcripts by April 2027.
Some fieldsets and form elements have missing or inappropriate labels or legends, and some labels are not attached to a form element. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels), and 3.3.2 (Label or Instructions). We plan to ensure that all elements have appropriate labels and legends by April 2027.
Some text elements have very low contrast with their backgrounds. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)). We will ensure that all text has adequate contrast with its background by April 2027.
Some parts of the website cannot be used via a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard). We plan to ensure that all parts of the site can be fully navigated via keyboard by April 2027.
Some link text is not self-explanatory, some pages have adjacent links with the same link text, and some elements identify themselves as links but have no link text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)). We will ensure that all links have appropriate, self-explanatory link text by April 2027.
Some elements may be obscured by other elements even though they have focus. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.12 (Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)). We plan to ensure that, by April 2027, all elements are at least partially visible when they have focus.
Some selectable elements are too small to be adequate targets for clicking or tapping, and some are too close to other selectable elements. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.8 (Target Size (Minimum)). We plan to ensure that all selectable elements are adequately large and separated from others, by April 2027.
Some required form inputs do not identify themselves as being required. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). We plan to ensure that all required elements identify themselves as such by April 2027.
Some parts of the website are coded incorrectly and do not work as expected. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). We plan to ensure that all elements are coded correctly by April 2027.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Some of our PDF documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have published reports in PDF format. We plan to fix these documents or replace them with accessible HTML pages by April 2027.
Any new PDF documents we publish will meet accessibility standards. Before publishing new content as a PDF document, we will make sure that that alternative format is necessary, as advised by the Government Digital Service.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We will continue to monitor how this website meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard and will update this statement when we find or fix any accessibility issues.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was first prepared on 22 February 2023. It was last reviewed and revised on 31 March 2026.
This website was last tested on 15 January 2026. The audit was carried out by Nexer Digital Ltd.
We chose the pages to audit with the goal of covering a wide variety of site functionality and meeting additional client requests.
The audit assessed the following pages and functions:
· Homepage
· Data Access Overview
· Meet the Team
· News & Insights
· News & Insights Article
· Governance
· Event Page
· Search Results
· Contact
· Begin an Enquiry
· Accessing Data (card block 3)
· Pre-application checklist
· Metadata catalogue
· Data Use Register
· New animations launched to explain data topics (Video)
Accessibility assessment used EN 301 549, the recognised European standard for demonstrating conformity with the EAA.
The audit used the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.2, levels A and AA, to determine how well the selected pages follow the accessibility standard.
Last Updated 19 Oct 2026