Accessibility
SQA is working towards creating an accessible website for all. The structure of the website, and how it displays information is designed to be accessible, and all new content is checked to ensure compliance.
If you are a visually impaired user, or are using screen reading software, and encounter difficulties using sections of SQA's website please report this to us at: web.team@sqa.org.uk. We will endeavour to modify pages immediately.
Problems accessing the content of this website
If you have any problems accessing pages or documents published on this website, please contact SQA's Business Development & Customer Support Team:
- Telephone: 0303 333 0330
- E-mail: mycentre@sqa.org.uk
and we will supply you with the page or document in an accessible format.
Many of our publications can be produced in alternative formats, including large type, braille and community languages.
Accessibility statement
This website is run by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA). 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
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We are working towards making the website text as simple as possible to understand.
Get help
AbilityNet provides guidance about how to:
- make your mouse easier to use
- use your keyboard instead of a mouse
- talk to your device
- make your device talk to you
- make text larger
- change your colours
- magnify the screen
How accessible this website is
We have a Digital Question Paper section
We provide requested past papers in Braille
Alternative assessment arrangements can be arranged for candidates who need additional support during exams.
If you have a question about assessment arrangement contact the team:
- 0345 213 6890
- aarequests@sqa.org.uk
We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible:
- you can’t modify the line height or spacing of text
- some older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
- webinars are not accessible
- you can’t skip to the main content when using a screen reader
- images often do not offer a text alternative
What to do if you can’t access parts of this website
If you have any problems accessing pages or documents published on this website, please contact SQA's Business Development & Customer Support Team:
- Telephone: 0303 333 0330
- Email: mycentre@sqa.org.uk
and we will supply you with the page or document in an accessible format.
Many of our publications can be produced in alternative formats, including large type, braille and community languages.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: the Web Team (web.team@sqa.org.uk)
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).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
- If you use British Sign Language (BSL), the Contact Scotland BSL service gives you access to an online interpreter enabling you to communicate with us using sign language.
- Our offices have audio induction loops
- We provide disabled parking on request.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
SQA is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non compliance with the accessibility regulations
Images don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
Navigation and accessing information
There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option). This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).
It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.4 (orientation).
Interactive tools and transactions
Our recruitment sections are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in two years. We are procuring a new website platform and will ensure our new site is fully compliant.
PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2021, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we don’t plan to fix [example of non-essential document].
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Live video
Live video streams don’t have captions. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).
We don’t plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
How we tested this website
This website was last tested on 20/09/19. The test was carried out by SQA.
We used user views from analytics tom determine which sample of pages to test.
We are in the process of employing an external company to test a larger portion of the website.
We tested:
- our main website platform, available at https://www.sqa.org.uk/
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We're' conducting an audit to guide priority and level of improvements needed to comply with WCAG 2.1
We are training all staff in clear and confident writing to improve readability of the website.
This statement was prepared on 20/09/19. It was last updated on 20/09/19.
Screen reader setting recommendations
Users of screen readers should note that this site makes use of Title and Acronym, and so will gain more from the site if they configure their screen reader to pick up these attributes.
For users of JAWS we recommend the following sort order 'title|text|alt|href' as the best combination to set.
Access keys
Access keys provide a quick way to navigate round the site without using a mouse, and on this site they are based on the UK Government Access Keys system.
The keys are used in conjuction with Alt or Ctrl and Enter keys which vary depending on your browser.
Windows users can navigate with the accesskey feature by typing ALT+Accesskey. On the Mac, you would use CTRL+Accesskey. Internet Explorer users may also need to hit the “enter” key to activate a link.
Detailed Instructions
1. Hold down
- 'Alt' key if using Internet Explorer for Windows
- 'Alt' and 'Shift' key if using Mozilla/Firefox on Windows
- 'Ctrl' on Mac, or if using Safari on a Mac 'Alt' on Windows for Opera on Windows ('Alt' and 'Shift' are required in some circumstances)
2. and simultaneously select a key from the list below
3. you may need to also press 'Enter' if using Internet Explorer for Windows on a PC - other browsers go to the page immediately.
- 0 - Accessibility and Access Key details
- 1 - Navigate back to Home Page
- 9 - Feedback to the SQA
- S - Skip to Section Navigation links
These keys have been selected so as not to conflict with those in use by Browsers, Word, Acrobat Reader and assistive technologies such as JAWS, Supernova and HomePageReader.
External sites
All links to external sites open in a new window and Scottish Qualifications Authority is not responsible for the content or accessibility of these referenced sites.
Useful links
The Adobe site offers:
There is more information on PDF Accessibility and other issues from the RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind) Access Centre.