Accessibility

How accessible this website is

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

• There is no inclusion of a site map, with a skip navigation link to it available on every page
• There is no facility to change the colour contrast of web pages
• There is no facility to change text size of web pages
• There are no contact details in the header area of each page
• There are no social media icons in the header area of each page, with the appropriate branding colours included
• There is no use of thumbnail images where other pages are linked
• There is an inconsistent use of a featured image
• There is an incorrect use of icons, particularly with PDF links
• There is a use of icons that do not have a purpose
• Link text using the divisive phrase “click here” rather than inclusive phrases such as “follow this link”

Feedback and contact information 

We would like to provide visitors who are having difficulties with navigating this website every assistance possible. Our contact details are as follows:

Telephone
Edinburgh switchboard - 0131 558 3331
Grimsby switchboard - 01472 252 300

Email
web@seafish.co.uk

How to request web page content and documents in an accessible format

If you require web page content or documents in an accessible format, please contact us by one of the following methods: 

Telephone
Edinburgh switchboard - 0131 558 3331
Grimsby switchboard - 01472 252 300

Email
web@seafish.co.uk

Web pages

If the content is on a web page, please include the following:

• The web address (URL)
• Your name and email address or
• Your name and postal address
• The format you need, for example, an accessible PDF, large print, braille, BSL, an audio CD.

Documents

If the content is within a document, please include the following: 

• The document URL or
• The web address (URL) of where the document is hosted
• The full document title and publication date
• Your name and email address or
• Your name and address
• The format you need, for example, an accessible PDF, large print, braille, BSL, an audio CD.

If you require our assistance in ensuring that you are requesting the correct information, please contact us by one of the following methods: 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems or issues with accessing content and documents on this website or can make further suggestions to improve the accessibility of this website, please contact us by one of the following methods: 

Telephone
Edinburgh switchboard - 0131 558 3331
Grimsby switchboard - 01472 252 300

Email
web@seafish.co.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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

We are committed to making our website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

Compliance status 

This website aims to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard. 

Accessibility Audit

A detailed audit of 20 pages of this website was completed in April 2021 with each page tested in the following areas. 

• Website Accessibility Errors Priority A
• Website Accessibility Errors Priority AA
• Website Accessibility Errors Priority AAA
• Website Accessibility Errors for Screen Readers
• Website Coding Errors that affect Search Engines
• Website Coding Errors (W3C Standards)
• Usability and Navigation Issues

In addition, a thorough manual evaluation of each of these pages was undertaken. On completion of the audit, Website Accessibility Errors A and AA are being addressed. 

If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact us by one of the following methods: 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

• Some images do not have alternative tags so are not accessible to screen readers
• Some videos do not have audio descriptions or captions
• Podcasts do not have an accessible alternative to audio
• Some PDFs are inaccessible and do not have accessible alternatives like HTML documents
• Some web page links are ambiguous for example with link text like “click here”
• Some content in iFrames is not accessible via VoiceOver screen reader on iOS devices due to a known Apple iOS bug.

Disproportionate burden

General Website Navigation and Content

• The inclusion of a site map, with a skip navigation link to it available on every page
• The inclusion of facility to change contrast of web page
• The inclusion of facility to change text size of the web page
• The inclusion of contact details in the header area of each page
• The inclusion of social media icons in the header area of each page, with the appropriate branding colours included
• Use of thumbnail images where other pages are linked
• Use of a featured image consistently
• The correct use of icons, particularly with PDF links
• Icons that do not have a purpose
• Link text using inclusive phrases such as “follow this link”, rather than the divisive “click here”

We are unable to give a timeframe for the other fixes but they will be factored in to future development work. 

Documents and PDFs

Many documents, including historic and current documents and PDFs are not accessible. For example, missing clear and simple document structure and missing text alternatives. Many of our historic and current documents may not fully meet the accessibility requirements. 

AAA Standard

Some pages have the following issues that fail the 'AAA' standard of the WCAG Guidelines. This is not currently a requirement but we include it, as it would be good practice to eliminate these in the future:

• Some links open in new windows without making the visitor aware of this previously
• CSS interactions and transitions are used without providing a facility to turn them off

The following issues may occur with screen readers:

• The use of input type=text with aria-label attribute does not work with some screen readers
• The use of input type=text with title attribute does not work with some screen readers
• Replacing link text with aria-label attribute does not work with some screen readers  

Images

• Images cannot be enlarged 
• Thumbnail images linking through to the same featured image on a linked page are not used
• Featured images are not used consistently 
• Icons are not used clearly or correctly, particularly with PDF links
• Some icons do not appear to have a purpose other than a decorative one
• Some images do not have alternative text
• Some images are poor or have meaningless alternative text
• Some images contain text, which makes the text difficult to read

We aim to have all images updated with alternative text by 28 February 2023. All other issues will be factored in to future development work but there is no timescale on this at the moment. 

Podcasts

• Podcasts do not currently provide an alternative to audio, such as a transcript or text alternative or audio description

Documents

• Many of the document titles are non-descriptive
• Many documents do not contain a summary
• Many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible
• PDF icons use incorrect colours
• Excel documents are included, this is a security risk

Due to the large volume of documents on our website, as a priority, documents published from September 2018 onwards, we will address and fix accessibility issues. This will be followed by addressing accessibility issues with documents published prior to September 2018. We aim to update all document titles and metadata by April 2024. 

How this website was tested

This website was tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, using a variety of software and extensive manual checking.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Images
We aim to have all images updated with alternative text by 28 April 2023.

Videos
We aim to have all videos made accessible by 28 April 2023. 

Documents
Due to the volume of documents, we aim to have all documents made accessible by April 2024. 

We will update the accessibility statement as and when required. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement