Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Forestry and Land Scotland website at www.forestryandland.gov.scot.

Forestry and Land Scotland is committed to making its website accessible to as many people as possible.

We aim for this website to comply with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

This means 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 all of the website using just a keyboard
• navigate all of the website using speech recognition software
• 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

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. We work to readability levels in line with the Digital Scotland Service Standard (DSSS).

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

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

• most PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• most interactive maps are not fully accessible to screen reader users
• some third-party embedded content may not be fully accessible to screen reader and keyboard users

Request information in an accessible format

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, braille or British Sign Language (BSL), contact us at: enquiries@forestryandland.gov.scot

Please include:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your email address and name
• the format you need - for example, plain text, braille, BSL or large print

We will consider your request and respond within a reasonable timeframe.

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 the enquiries@forestryandland.gov.scot inbox or fill in our feedback form.

When reporting a problem, please include:

• the web address (URL) of the page where you found the issue
• a description of the problem
• the device, browser or assistive technology you were using (if relevant)

We will review the issue and consider how we can improve accessibility.

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 

Forestry and Land Scotland is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

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-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Maps

1. Some interactive maps are difficult to navigate using screen readers and keyboard navigation. Alternative descriptions or accessible formats may not always be available.

Documents

2. 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. 

Third-party embedded content

3. We strive to ensure that all embedded third-party content used on this website meets accessibility standards. however, some third-party iframes may not include fully descriptive title attributes or may otherwise not meet the same accessibility standards as the rest of our website. Where possible, we work with providers to improve accessibility and provide alternative ways to access key information or services. 

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 

1. 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. 

We are currently undertaking an independent accessibility audit of this website. The results of this audit will be used to update this accessibility statement and inform further improvements to the site. This statement will be reviewed and updated once the audit is complete.

This statement was prepared on 26 May 2026. It was last reviewed on 26 May 2026.

This website was last tested on 28 April 2026 by The Shaw Trust.

Bright Signals ran an automated test across the site, to detect compliance with WCAG 2.2 (AA). The automated tests were completed using the latest version of Axe.

This was followed by a manual accessibility review of a representative sample of pages and content types and was conducted using assistive technology in accordance with the most used (JAWS and NVDA).

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

We will review this accessibility statement at least once per year.