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Accessibility guidelines

Accessibility is everyone's responsibility. And it's not just about websites or digital services - our accessibility guidelines also cover things like making documents accessible, using inclusive language, and making sure meetings, presentations and events are accessible.

Who is accessibility for?

Accessibility at Scottish Enterprise is about making sure all our websites and services can be used by everyone, including people who:  

  • Have a disability (this could be visual, hearing, motor or cognitive)
  • Have low literacy
  • Speak English as a second language
  • Aren’t confident using digital services or can’t access digital services  
  • Have a slow internet connection
  • Are temporarily experiencing an accessibility need - for example, a broken arm, difficulty concentrating in a busy environment, a migraine, broken speakers

Accessibility can benefit everyone. The captions we add to videos to help users with hearing loss also benefit users watching our videos on a busy train or a quiet office. Using plain English doesn't just help users with low literacy - it makes our content easier to digest and quicker to scan for all our users.

What is accessibility?

There’s a common misconception that accessibility is just about screen readers and disabilities, but it can affect all our users at different times and in different situations. Accessibility is about making sure a website, service, mobile application or electronic document can be accessed, navigated and used by as many users as possible.

It’s important to think about the ways people might use our services in unexpected ways:

  • A dyslexic user might user a screen reader even though they can see
  • Someone with a motor impairment might be using a switch instead of a keyboard, or a mouse
  • Users with dyslexia or users who are prone to migraines and light sensitivity might change the colours of your website because clear text on dark background works better for them  
  • Scrolling or motion might make your user physically sick (vestibular issues)
  • A person with a low vision might be zooming to see or use a large mouse pointer. They might need to scroll horizontally as well as vertically
  • Someone with no hearing loss may choose to watch a video without sound to avoid disturbing the people around them , or they may read a transcript so they can scan for keywords.

Accessibility standards

Accessibility isn’t just something we want to do, it’s also something we’re required to do as part of the 2010 Equality Act opens in a new window . Our websites are required to meet at least level AA of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 opens in a new window ).

Working on a website or digital service?

Find out more about our guidelines for building accessible sites and services. These might be particularly useful if you're a designer, developer or writer, but can apply to anyone working on our sites and services.

Looking for general guidance on how to approach accessibility in your role?

Accessibility isn't just something for people building websites to worry about. It's something you should be considering in your day-to-day role too - from creating accessible internal and external documents, to running accessible meetings, presentations and events. 

  • Language to use around disabilities

    Langauge is important, and getting it right helps people feel respected and welcome. 

  • Accessibility on social media

    If you're promoting content on a Scottish Enterprise brand channel, or your own personal channels, it's important that everyone can access what you're posting. 

  • Creating accessible documents

    Any of your colleagues, stakeholders or customers could have accessibility needs you don't know about. Make sure all your documents are accessible so that you're not creating barriers.

  • Presentations, meetings, events and webinars

    Whether you're hosting a staff meeting or running an event or webinar for customers, here are some guidelines to make sure as many people can participate as possible.