Accessibility Statement for Google Arts and Culture

Accessibility Statement for Google Arts and Culture

Website accessibility statement inline with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

This accessibility statement applies to: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/university-of-edinburgh

This website is provided by Google and links to collections held by the University of Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • Zoom in up to 500% to most of the content without the text spilling off the screen
  • Listen to most of the application using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • Experience no time limits

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where there is no easier wording we could use without changing what the text means.

Customising the website

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. This is an external site with suggestions to make your computer more accessible:

AbilityNet - My Computer My Way

With a few simple steps you can customise the appearance of our website using your browser settings to make it easier to read and navigate:

Additional information on how to customise our website appearance

If you are a member of University staff or a student, you can use the free SensusAccess accessible document conversion service:

Information on SensusAccess

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • There are some areas where the colour contrast could be improved
  • There is no skip to main content option
  • Some links open new tabs or browser windows without warning
  • It is not possible to navigate to all content using keyboard only
  • When navigating using a keyboard the function of showing your position is inconsistent, this could be made clearer
  • Not all images have alt text
  • Some information is conveyed only by sound
  • There are instances of continuous capitals and italics
  • Some information is conveyed only in colour – e.g. visited links
  • New browser tabs open without the user being alerted that this will happen

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, including accessible PDF, large print, audio recording or braille:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page, or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

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) directly:

Contact details for the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)

The government has produced information on how to report accessibility issues:

Reporting an accessibility problem on a public sector website

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

British Sign Language service

Contact Scotland BSL runs a service for British Sign Language users and all of Scotland’s public bodies using video relay. This enables sign language users to contact public bodies and vice versa. The service operates from 8.00am to 12.00am, 7 days a week.

Contact Scotland BSL service details.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its websites and applications 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 standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

The full guidelines are available at:

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard

Non accessible content

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations:  

The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria:

The site is not within our control. Google Arts and Culture take our images and display then so we are unable to make any changes. We have reported the accessibility issues we have discovered to Google and asked if they can resolve them.

Disproportionate burden

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.

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

At this time we believe no content is outwith the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to monitor this site for accessibility. Google Arts and Culture take our images and display then so we are unable to make any changes. We have reported the accessibility issues we have discovered to Google and asked if they can resolve them.

If a user contacts us to let us know they are having trouble accessing the site we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged. As changes are made, we will continue to review accessibility and retest the accessibility of this website.

Preparation of this accessibility statement  

This statement was prepared on 4th December 2023. It was last reviewed 16th January 2024.

The website was last tested in September 2023. The testing was carried out by the Development and Systems Team at the University of Edinburgh using both automated and manual methods. The site was tested on a PC, primarily using Microsoft Edge alongside Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Recent world-wide usage levels survey for different screen readers and browsers shows that Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are increasing in popularity and Google Chrome is now the favoured browser for screen readers:

WebAIM: Screen Reader User Survey

The aforementioned three browsers have been used in certain questions for reasons of breadth and variety.

We ran automated testing using WAVE WebAIM and then manual testing that included:

  • Spell check functionality;
  • Scaling using different resolutions and reflow;
  • Options to customise the interface (magnification, font, background colour, etc);
  • Keyboard navigation and keyboard traps;
  • Data validation;
  • Warning of links opening in new tab or window;
  • Information conveyed in the colour or sound only;
  • Flashing, moving or scrolling text;
  • Operability if JavaScript is disabled;
  • Use with screen reading software (for example JAWS);
  • Assistive software (TextHelp Read and Write, Windows Magnifier, ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking, TalkBack and VoiceOver);
  • Tooltips and text alternatives for any non-text content;
  • Time limits;
  • Compatibility with mobile accessibility functionality (Android and iOS).

Change Log