Website Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Lothian Buses Website www.lothianbuses.co.uk

Website Accessibility

This website is run by Lothian Buses. Lothian endeavours to provide an inclusive service for bus travel in Edinburgh that is accessible to all and acknowledge the importance of digital accessibility across our website, mobile applications and social media.

Lothian Buses want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means our customers should be able to:

  • understand the language we have used
  • change the language of the website to their chosen language
  • find our website easy to navigate
  • find it easy to search for the information they require
  • access our website on all devices
  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300%
  • 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)
  • either listen to the audio of our videos or read the subtitles

Lothian Buses have taken steps to ensure

  • the contrast of font to background colour across our website has a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 as tested using a contrast tool
  • the size and spacing of text on our website are appropriate and easy to read
  • we have used simple language that can be understood by our customers
  • we have added alternate text to all informative images across our main pages for customers using assistive technologies
  • we have added alternate text to our forms and links for customers using assistive technologies
  • we have added subtitles to all videos
  • we have used a page structure that makes pages easy to navigate for sighted customers and those using assistive technologies
  • our website can be navigated using just the keyboard
  • we have avoided the use of flashing or fast-moving images or sudden sounds

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

  • not all of our PDFs are compatible with screen reading technology
  • our videos do not include audio description
  • information is not available in BSL
  • maps are not compatible with screen reading technology

For this reason, if you need information in a different format to that provided on our website, e.g. accessible PDF, large print, easy read or would benefit from some assistance from our team you can contact our Customer Support Team

Online: www.lothianbuses.com/customer-support/

Email:  [email protected]

Phone: 0131 554 4494

Post: Lothian Buses, Customer Support Department, Annandale Street, Edinburgh EH74AZ

Twitter: @on_lothianbuses       Facebook:  @lothianbuses        Instagram: @lothianbuses

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re 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, please contact our dedicated Accessibility and Inclusion Officer by emailing [email protected]

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

Lothian Buses 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 currently partially complaint and meets 76% of WCAG 2.2 AA standards due to the non-accessible content listed below. Our Digital Team are working hard to identify and fix any accessibility errors across our site and appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to make improvements.

Non-accessible content

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

  • Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all informative images by January 2023. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
  • Some links do not have a text alternative, so people with a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all informative links by January 2023. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of links meets accessibility standards.
  • Audio Description is not provided for all pre-recorded media. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion1.2.5 (time based media). We do not have the resources to provide audio description with every video, but are committed to ensure customers have access to the critical information provided in all videos.
  • Some parts of our website do not meet the contrast ratio requirement of 4.5:1. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 (contrast minimum). We plan to increase the contrast ratio to the minimum standard across our website by January 2023. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of contrast meets accessibility standards.
  • Some of our PDF documents are not accessible to screen reading technology. We plan to ensure accessible PDFs of our crucial documents are available to customers via our website by January 2023.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Pre-recorded video

We’ve assessed the cost and resources required for adding audio description to all videos. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will reassess this decision as part of our annual Accessibility Statement update.

PDFs and other documents

Our documents centre contains a large number of published PDFs. Some of our PDFs are essential to providing our services are our customers have the right to the information that they contain. For example, we have PDFs with information on our Conditions of Carriage as well as policies and procedures. By September 2023, we plan to either or replace these with accessible PDFs or with accessible HTML pages. If you come across a document on our website that is not accessible to yourself, please contact us so that we can provide you with an accessible version of that information.

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. For this reason, if you need information in a different format to that provided on our website, e.g. accessible PDF, large print, easy read or would benefit from some assistance from our team you can contact our Customer Support Team

Any new essential PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

We will always strive to add captions to live video streams, but ask our customers to bear in mind that live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 20/07/2022. It was last reviewed on 20/07/2022.

This website was last tested on 13/07/2022. The test was carried out Little Forest.