Digital

Creating inclusive digital experiences: how Accessibility Cloud can help us all improve accessibility

September 10, 2024 by No Comments | Category Accessibility Cloud, Digital Scotland

This blog has been written by Mark Palmer, Accessibility Lead, Digital Directorate, to announce the roll out of Accessibility Cloud to public sector organisations.

Accessibility Cloud is now available for automated testing

As Accessibility Lead I’ve seen first hand the challenges we all face when creating digital experiences that are truly accessible to everyone. We know how complex the journey can be, especially when you consider our need to work with suppliers who don’t fully understand our accessibility requirements, with third party software providers, and our own limitations when it comes to the implementation of accessibility.

In today’s digital age, accessibility is more crucial than ever to ensure digital services are accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. This is not just a moral obligation, but a legal requirement. The introduction of Accessibility Cloud for central government organisations marks a significant step towards making public sector websites more inclusive and user-friendly.

What is Accessibility Cloud?

Accessibility Cloud is a web accessibility testing platform that allows public sector organisations to identify accessibility issues.

The platform has been in place since March 2024 and checks how public sector websites perform in relation to meeting the requirements of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. The legislation challenges us to make sure the digital parts of the services we design and build for the people of Scotland are done with accessibility at their core.

What are the benefits of using Accessibility Cloud?

  • Increase accessibility compliance: meet the legal requirement and accessibility standards for content, such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
  • Enhance the user experience: for people with disabilities: improve the usability of websites, ensuring everyone can access information and services equitably
  • Empowering you to act: get access to regular website evaluation reporting to uncover accessibility issues
  • Improve digital accessibility: Accessibility Cloud helps improve website accessibility, contributing towards your organisations wider digital inclusion approach
  • Build a culture of accessibility: embed accessibility considerations for both public bodies and suppliers to make sure we get more things right first time

How will it work?

  1. Public sector organisations will be asked to provide contact details for each site owner to gain free access to Accessibility Cloud.
  2. Those with a user account will be able to access reporting that identifies accessibility improvements.
  3. Only websites in the public domain can be audited this way i.e. services that sit behind firewalls or logins cannot be audited using Accessibility Cloud.
  4. To remedy the issues found, it is likely that a technical person with coding experience will be needed.
  5. Accessibility Cloud can be used for continuous monitoring, allowing organisations to track progress over time, identify new issues as they arise and ensure websites remain compliant with accessibility standards.
  6. The platform can also be used to generate accessibility statements following a manual audit and capturing findings in Accessibility Cloud.

Accessibility Cloud in action

A Scottish Government Executive Agency user said:

“Access to this tool has been immensely beneficial. It has simplified the process of identifying and demonstrating accessibility issues across our web channels, bringing together all the information in one location.

“The tool is user-friendly and suggests ways to resolve issues which saves a lot of time. I really appreciate the ‘cloud lite’ function as this highlights errors on the page, making it easy to show others without delving into the code. It’s also great that, as we begin to address the issues, we will have data to show the improvements we are making.

“We are still in the early stages of making our digital channels accessible. A significant benefit for me has been heightened awareness. The insights it provides have sparked considerable interest, with colleagues from across the organisation requesting to view the results and gain access themselves. This has provided welcome opportunities to talk about how we can improve the accessibility of our digital channels and services.

“One of our users said: “I was able to obtain results immediately, along with examples of the identified issues and links to the relevant WCAG sections. It quickly highlighted the main issues and outlined how to address them. It certainly reduced the time to accomplish this manually or with multiple other tools”.”

A game changer

Since we’ve started using it, it’s definitely been a bit of a game changer. By empowering us to create more inclusive digital experiences we’re able to ensure that everyone can access the information and services they need. On that front, I’ve been really proud to be part of a team that is committed to making the digital world a more accessible place.

By proactively identifying and addressing accessibility issues, we can all be part of a movement to improve user experiences, promote digital inclusion and adhere to the legal requirements that we all need to meet. In doing so, we can all contribute to Scotland taking a significant step towards building a more accessible digital landscape.

Find out more and get involved

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog.

We understand that there is a lot of information to absorb here and so will host two one hour online sessions for public sector colleagues on

  • 24 September at 11am
  • 26 September at 2pm

In these sessions, we will talk through the offer and answer any questions you may have. If you would like to join us, please email the Digital Accessibility team with your preferred date and we will send an invite over to you.

In the meantime, why not find out more about accessibility:

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