Browse Aloud

BrowseAloudIcon Blackwood uses Browsealoud on all our sites for accessibility for all of online visitors. However some web browsers and ad blockers may be blocking this element from appearing when you visit our site - if you cannot see the Browsealoud icon (pictured) on the top right of the webpage please check your ad block settings. 

Accessibility Policy

Blackwood recognises the importance of providing a website that is accessible to all user groups, including the disabled, the visually impaired and those with motor deficiencies and cognitive disabilities.

This statement explains the accessibility features we have implemented to help you use our website. They help to improve navigation for screen readers, keyboard navigation and text-only browsers among other things.

Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback regarding the accessibility of this site or if you experience any difficulty using it. Alternatively you can call us on 0131 317 0173.

General information about this site

We've designed this site with accessibility in mind. Some of the general features include the use of clear, simple language which is easy to understand and we have been careful not to use blinking or flickering elements.

Standards Compliance

We have strived to ensure our website conforms to level AA compliance as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). We use a number of tools to perform automated accessibility tests, but this is just one aspect of our testing procedure. Being automated, these tools are not as reliable as expert evaluation. Pages are also tested in a variety of screen reading applications.

Background, text and colour

Careful use of text colours, size and background colours can help people with a range of visual impairments. Here's what we've done:

  • Colours - our site is usable by anyone with colour deficient vision. We've checked the site's font and background colour to ensure there are no combinations against the different colour blindness conditions and ensured that all information is still clear.
  • Font and text size - While we've used clear, legible font for all text and headings.
  • Style sheets - This site uses cascading style sheets (CSS) for visual layout. Where possible, we've also made our website navigable, usable and readable if your browsing device does not support style sheets.
  • Non-text elements - Providing alternatives for non-text elements gives visually impaired and screen-reader users wider access to our website.
  • Images, videos and other non-text elements - All non-text elements, such as images, animations, symbols, audio, video and multimedia have text equivalents. 
  • Links and navigation - We have designed our site to be simple and streamlined to use  which helps to improve the experience for all. 
  • Navigation - The site is fully accessible using only the keyboard and can be navigated with scripting disabled.
  • Pop-up windows - Our website does not use pop-up windows unless they are appropriate. 
  • Forms and tables - Clearly labelled tables help readers to understand the content on a page and to fill in content into correct form fields.
  • Frames - There are a limited number of critical pages on this site which use frames. Any frames which we do use have descriptive titles to help screen readers to make sense of the content of the page.
  • Tables - There are currnetly no tables on the site however if we need tables in the future we will follow WCAG guidelines.