Accessibility statement

Our commitment to website accessibility, our compliance status of this website, and details of non accessible content.

Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to firescotland.gov.uk. 

This website is run by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. 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 using browser or device settings 
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen 
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software 
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver) 

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. 

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

 

How accessible is this website

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

  • Some document formats on such as PDF, MS Word and MS Excel may not be fully accessible. Where possible we make documents accessible and/or provide a suitable HTML alternative.
  • Some icons that contain links do not provide enough information to people using a screen reader. This means that people using this assistive technology may not always be able to understand the purpose of each link on an icon.
  • The map view on our find a fire station page is not accessible; however, the list view can be used as an alternative.
  • Our online home fire safety checker page does not work with screen readers or keyboard navigation.
  • Home fire safety visit form is not accessible. Alternative methods of arranging a home fire safety visit are listed on that page.  

Phone: 01416464500

Online: https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/general-enquiry/

Post: For the attention of Communication and Engagement, Westburn Dr, Cambuslang, Glasgow, G72 7NA

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

Phone: 01416464500

Online: https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/general-enquiry/

Post: For the attention of Communication and Engagement, Westburn Dr, Cambuslang, Glasgow, G72 7NA

Email: SFRS.website@firescotland.gov.uk

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in within 20 working days.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email SFRS.website@firescotland.gov.uk explaining the issue that you encountered.

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

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

Compliance status

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA], due to the non-compliances listed below. 

Non-accessible content

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

  • PDFs and other document types

    Some document formats on such as PDF, MS Word and MS Excel may not be fully accessible. Where possible we make documents accessible and/or provide a suitable HTML alternative.

    We plan to have an HTML alternative for all documents in place by October 2024 and to improve existing documents to be as accessible as possible.

  • Link Purpose

    • Some icons that contain links do not provide enough information to people using a screen reader. This means that people using this assistive technology may not always be able to understand the purpose of each link on an icon.
      This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4.

  • Find a fire station search result

    • The map view is non-accessible; however, the list view can be used as an alternative.

  • Online home fire safety checker

    • Some elements of the online home fire safety checker are not fully accessible.

    • Some images do not have a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1

    • Selected status not programmatically determinable. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1

    • Radio button labels have no context to which question they relate to. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1

    • Insufficient contrast on selected icons. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1

      Insufficient text contrast on some text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3

    • Insufficient contrast of some icons against the background. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11

    • Some elements cannot be reached by keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1

    • Difficult to discern the focus order and where you are on the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 and 2.4.7

  • Home fire safety visit request form
    • Some elements of the form are not fully accessible.  
    • Radio button labels have no context to which question they relate to. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
    • The field label and help text are not programmatically associated with the visible label. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
    • Some text fields have character limits. The limits are not programmatically associated with the form field. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
    • Some mandatory field error messages are not programmatically associated with the fields. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
    • When fields are selected using a keyboard, the contrast ratio difference between the focus and the border colour is insufficient. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 
    • Multiple contrast issue within the form where the text does not have sufficient contrast against the background colour. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 
    • Text spills of the screen at 200% zoom and above. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 and 1.4.10 
    • Multiple issue with contrast between the form fields and on focus.
      This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11  
    • Some elements cannot be reached by keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 
    • Character limits cannot be revealed using a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 
    • Expanded content is not next in the focus order. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 
    • Link purpose is not clear programmatically. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 
    • Form fields have no accessible name. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 
    • Screen readers are not provided with updates on character limits of text fields that update as text is entered. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 
    • When submitting the form with some mandatory fields empty, focus is automatically taken to the first required field. There is no announcement to screen reader users that the text ‘Required’ has appeared and that the form has not been submitted due to errors. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 
  • Calendar component

    • On the Publications page, the aria-controls attribute links it to the calendar component instead of the field/label, making it unclear which date the user is selecting. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.

  • Checkbox filter

    • The labels of the checkboxes, within in the filters, on the Publications page do not match the visual and it could be confusing for users of assistive technology. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6.

  • Menu focus
    • In the ‘Menu’, there is now no visible focus indicator on the last three options of ‘SFRS Board’, ‘Board members’, and ‘Committee meetings’. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.7.

  • Focus indicator contrast
    • Focus indicator does not have sufficient contrast against the grey background This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.11.

PDFs and other documents 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.  

Live video 

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 September 2023. It was last reviewed on 7 June 2024.

This website was last tested on 14 March 2024 against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.

The test was carried out by Government Digital Service. Testing was based on a sampling approach and limited to a fixed time period. This is not a full comprehensive audit.

Tools used

Unless otherwise stated, the latest version of software was used.

Type 

Software used 

Operating system 

Windows 10 Pro and Android 13 on Samsung Galaxy A32 

Browser 

Chrome (viewport of 1280x1024 on PC) 

Assistive technology 

NVDA screen reader 

Accessibility testing software 

Axe, WAVE, Web developer extension, WebAIM Contrast Checker, Adobe Acrobat Pro 

 

 

Pages checked

A sample of pages were tested.

Page Name 

URL 

Home 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/ 

Search results (keyword = “test”) 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/search-results/?q=test 

Accessibility Statement 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/accessibility-statement/ 

Contact us 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/ 

General enquiry 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/general-enquiry/ 

Information requests 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/information-requests/ 

Home fire safety visits 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/home-fire-safety-visits/ 

Online home fire safety checker 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/online-home-fire-safety-checker/ 

Request visit 

https://cset.firescotland.gov.uk/Public/HFSV/RequestVisit 

Find a fire station 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/find-a-fire-station/ 

Publications 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/publications/ 

Strategic Leadership Team 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about/strategic-leadership-team/ 

Carbon monoxide detectors 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/at-home/carbon-monoxide-detectors/ 

News 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/news/ 

Two King’s Fire Service Medals awarded in New Year’s Honours 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/news/two-king-s-fire-service-medals-awarded-in-new-year-s-honours/ 

SFRS Advice on Fire Safety 

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/publications/document/?id=1085 

SFRS Advice on Fire Safety PDF 

https://external-doc-library.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/PROD/SFRS+Advice+on+Fire+Safety.pdf 

 

Accessibility test report

Read the full accessibility test report