Accessibility

Accessibility statement for SOLAR

This accessibility statement applies to content published on the www.sqasolar.org.uk domain.

This website is run by SQA. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

zoom in up to 400% 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

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

We aim to use plain and accessible language in all our written communications, and we are working towards making the website text as simple as possible to understand.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website aren't fully accessible:

Many documents are in PDF format and are not fully accessible.
Figures, graphics and images in documents may have missing or incorrect alternative text attributes.
Some PDFs are not tagged.
Some documents have a blank document title.
Word documents may contain a non-inline graphic or objects.
Many pages and documents are not written in plain English.
Some images have the image file name as alternative text.
Some pages have the same title, so the title cannot be used to distinguish pages.
Some interactive elements may pose issues for assistive technologies.
We have CAPTCHAs on our forms to confirm that content is being accessed by a person rather than a computer, we do not supply text alternatives that identify and describe the purpose of the non-text content or provide output modes for different types of sensory perception. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content), 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable).

Feedback and contact information

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, please contact our Digital Services Support Helpdesk on 0345 213 5060 or at das.helpdesk@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).

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.

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

PDFs and other documents

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.

We do not plan to fix documents that were published before 2018 or have low use, unless asked by a user.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We have a project underway to improve accessibility across the SOLAR website. This will ensure that our website is fully compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA Standard, as a minimum.
We test the website every six months and fix any accessibility errors we find. We are training staff in accessibility awareness and clear and confident writing.

What we're currently working on

Forms Captcha – Investigating and implementing alternative approaches to validation (by April 2025).
Removing all Word and PDF documents from the website (by November 2025).

Preparation of this accessibility statement

The statement was prepared on 22/09/20. It was last updated on 25/09/2024.This website was last tested on 24/09/2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by our Digital Team.

We tested our SQA SOLAR website at https://www.sqasolar.org.uk

We used:

SOLAR Software

SOLAR runs on the Surpass platform. Access the Surpass Accessibility Statement.