Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.pensions.gov.scot.

This website is run by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. You should be able to:

  • use your web browser to change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without loss of information
  • 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)
  • access the website using a mobile or tablet.

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

How accessible this website is

We know that some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • most PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • at magnification of 200%, the exit button is not functional using the keyboard
  • Some of our documents require a separate program to open and use and are not fully accessible
  • The navigation of some of the link text isn’t descriptive with a screen reader
  • Some colour contrasts are difficult to read

Feedback and contact information

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: SPPAresearch@gov.scot with details of the problem you have encountered.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act we have a duty to provide a range of appropriate services, including making information physically accessible in, for example, a larger script or alternative format (where practicable). In these circumstances, the costs will be met by SPPA.

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

Scottish Public Pensions Agency 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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Visibility of content

In mobile view (320 x 256 pixels), the user has to scroll horizontally to see the full title of the latest news article (Reflow 1.4.10)

At 200% zoom the close button within the hamburger menu is not accessible using the keyboard.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some document formats such as PDF, MS Word and Excel may not be fully accessible. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

Some of our PDF fail on:

  • WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast
  • WCAG 2.4.2 Page titles
  • WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships: Tables
  • WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content

Disproportionate burden

We are not claiming that any of our accessibility issues are disproportionate to fix.

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

PDFs and office file formats

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

Where documents are updated and new PDF documents published, they will meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Recent audits have identified a significant number of PDFs that do not meet accessibility guidelines.

As part of our work to improve the accessibility of this website, we are reviewing our policy on PDFs and other methods of delivering information with a view to making them as accessible as possible.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1 November 2022. It was last reviewed on 15 November 2023.

This website was last tested on 19 September 2023 by Accessibility Monitoring Team at the Government Digital Service.

View a copy of the report

We are currently implementing changes based on this test and will update this page with new information about the improvements we make.

We will complete a full accessibility audit by September 2024. 

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