Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.midlothian.gov.uk.

Midlothian Council runs this website. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
  • use the ReachDeck reading, listening and translation tools to access most website content (ReachDeck instructions)
  • listen to most of the website using your own screen reader, including recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver
  • request information in alternative formats where required

We have 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 this website is

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

  • Some PDF documents are not fully accessible to assistive technologies.
  • Some online forms are not fully accessible to screen reader users and people navigating using a keyboard.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any accessibility problems not listed on this page, think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, or need information in a different format, please contact us:

We will respond within 10 working days.

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

Midlothian Council 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) 2.2 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 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.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some PDF documents are not fully accessible to assistive technologies

  • Some do not contain a document title. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).
  • Some do not specify a default language. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).
  • Some contain images or other non-text content that do not have appropriate text alternatives. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).

These issues are planned to be fixed by December 2026.

Online forms provided by our third party supplier (including the contact us form)

  • Some list elements are not structured correctly, which may affect how screen readers announce content. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  • Some tab components do not use the required ARIA parent-child relationships correctly, which may affect how assistive technologies interpret form content. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  • Some tab components contain invalid child elements which may affect screen reader users. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  • The keyboard focus indicator for the skip link may be partially obscured by a supplier-provided banner. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.11 (Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)).

We are working with our supplier to resolve these issues and we will update this statement when remediation work has been completed or confirmed delivery timescales have been provided.

Health and Social Care microsite

Some aspects of the microsite are not fully compliant with accessibility requirements listed below.

  • Some content and form elements are not structured correctly. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  • Some links rely on colour alone to distinguish them from surrounding content. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).
  • Some text does not meet minimum colour contrast requirements. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).
  • Some form controls do not have sufficient visual contrast. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast).
  • Some pages do not provide a mechanism to bypass repeated content. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).
  • Keyboard focus indicators may become obscured in some circumstances. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.11 (Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)).
  • Some pages do not specify a page language. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).

These are due to be fixed as part of a website upgrade project expected in 2027.

Partner websites

Websites branded as Midlothian Council, but hosted separately on suppliers' platforms, may not be fully accessible. Read the accessibility statements for these third-party websites.

Interactive tools and transactions

Some interactive forms provided through third-party suppliers may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard or assistive technologies. We continue to work with suppliers to improve accessibility and will review these systems when contracts are renewed or systems updated.

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

PDFs and other documents

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.

We do not plan to retrofit historical documents such as archived annual or quarterly financial reports.

Live video

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

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We use quality assurance software from Silktide that scans the website every 5 days. Among other things, it identifies accessibility issues within new content so that they can be reviewed and corrected.

We regularly review the accessibility of our website and work with suppliers to address issues where they are identified. We have recently completed improvements to content and documents under our direct control and continue to work with third-party suppliers to resolve outstanding issues.

We also anticipate upgrading the website to the Jadu Photon platform. As part of this project we will review accessibility across the website and take opportunities to improve compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 19 August 2020 and last reviewed on 8 September 2026.

This website was last tested on 7 September 2026 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

A representative sample of the website, including the most viewed pages, was tested manually and using automated accessibility testing tools by the website team.