Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for Care Information Scotland

This accessibility statement applies to the Care Information Scotland website. It explains how accessible this site is, what to do if you have difficulty using it, and how to report accessibility problems.

The website is run by NHS 24.

Using the website

We are continuously working to make Care Information Scotland (careinfoscotland.scot) accessible. We want to ensure that everyone who visits the website can find the information they are looking for.

We try to make our site easy to use and accessible by including:

• alternative text
• subtitles for media content (where appropriate)
• a ‘Read Page’ button (ReachDeck) which has text-to-speech and reading support

We also use plain English in website text to make information as easy as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has more advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

‘Read Page’ ReachDeck button

This website uses ReachDeck, a free tool that can be used to read and listen to information from your browser.

The ReachDeck tool on a desktop computer allows you to:

• convert selected text into an MP3
• read selected pages or highlighted text out loud
• display pictures related to the text selected on a page
• block distractions on screen with a tinted mask
• enlarge text as it’s read out loud
• remove clutter from the screen, displaying only the main text

The ReachDeck tool on a mobile device allows you to read selected pages or highlighted text out loud.

To use the tool:

• click the ‘Read Page’ button at the top of the page, or the person in a circle icon at the bottom of the page
• select a tool from the toolbar
• highlight, or click, any text to hear it read aloud

If you have trouble using or accessing the ReachDeck tool:

• phone 028 9442 810
• email info@texthelp.com

How accessible this website is

We have identified some accessibility issues within the website.

Known issues include:

• some navigation elements are difficult to use with a keyboard or screen reader software
• some buttons, form fields and links on the site have no accessible titles so it’s difficult for screen reader users to learn what these controls do
• there are multiple elements across the webpage that do not have sufficient colour contrast so it’s harder to see
• some voice overs of images do not provide a useful image description
• PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

Feedback and contact information

We are always looking for ways to improve the accessibility of Care Information Scotland. If you cannot access a particular part of the site or want to report an accessibility problem please contact us.

Alternative formats

We will consider reasonable requests for information from this website to be provided in an alternative format. If you would like us to consider such a request, please contact us.

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

NHS 24 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 (WCAG) 2.2 AA. This means there are some things which are not fully accessible.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• The back to the top button and the dropdown menu from ‘Topics’ are not accessible using the keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard.
• At 200% zoom, the accessibility icon partially covers content within the hamburger menu once it has been expanded. This fails WCAG 1.4.4 Resize text.
• At 400% zoom and in mobile view (320 x 256 pixels), the hamburger menu does not reflow to fit the webpage once it has been expanded as content is cut off. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow.
• When hovering over the link ‘Topics’ within the navigational bar, there is no mechanism to dismiss the additional content triggered without moving pointer hover or keyboard focus. This fails WCAG 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus.
• There are multiple elements across the webpage that do not have sufficient colour contrast. This includes: the navigational menu along the top of the webpage; the contact number ‘0800 011 3200’; all buttons such as ‘Chat’, ‘Read page’ and ‘Find my council’; all content within the box ‘Chat to us’; and all links under ‘Popular Pages’. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum).
• Some links, buttons and icons have no alternative text so their purpose is unclear. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.
• Some labels are not associated with text input and other form fields. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and relationship.
• Some images and graphics have no alternative text. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content.
• On the Feedback page, IDs used in ARIA and labels are not unique. This fails WCAG 2.1 A and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

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.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

At NHS 24, creating an accessible service is a team effort. We want our teams to make accessible services by:

• considering accessibility at the start of their project, and throughout
• making accessibility the whole team’s responsibility
• carrying out regular accessibility audits and testing
• fix or replace non-compliant PDFs with accessible HTML pages

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 7 January 2025. It was last reviewed on 2 February 2025.

This website is tested weekly using Accessibility Cloud.

A sample of pages from this website was tested by the Government Digital Service on 26 November 2024. During this site quality report, 7 pages were checked. To measure accessibility, pages were evaluated against all level AA success criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2.