Policies and publications
Find out about the various policies and governance structure we work within.
Last updated 14 October 2025
Accessibility statement
We want everyone who uses our website to be able to find, access, and use the information and services we provide. We are committed to meeting accessibility standards and making continuous improvements so that our website works well for as many people as possible.
Accessibility as part of our values
As the Scottish Government’s economic and community development agency for the Highlands and Islands, we believe access to information and services should be equal for everyone. Accessibility supports our wider commitments to fairness, inclusion and equality of opportunity across the Highlands and Islands. By making our digital services usable by all, we aim to remove barriers and ensure our communities can fully benefit from our work.
Our commitment
- We aim to make this website accessible in line with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the Equality Act 2010. You can read the regulations on legislation.gov.uk.
- The website is designed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA.
- We carry out a full accessibility audit annually, with remedial fixes made as soon as possible after each review.
- Accessibility is considered at every stage of design, content creation and development.
How accessible is this website?
Most of the website is fully accessible. This includes:
- You can navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- Compatibility with screen readers (tested with NVDA, JAWS and VoiceOver)
- You can zoom in up to 200% without loss of information
- Strong colour contrast between text and backgrounds
- Responsive design for use on desktop, tablet and mobile devices
Known issues
Some content is not yet fully accessible:
- Older PDF documents (published before September 2018) may not be fully accessible to screen reader users.
- Some third-party content and interactive elements may not have full keyboard support.
- A small number of downloadable documents may not meet contrast or heading structure requirements.
- Some video content may not yet have captions or transcripts available.
- Some heading elements are not fully consistent.
- Some images do not have image descriptions.
We are working to fix these issues and ensure all new documents meet accessibility standards.
How we meet accessibility standards
- Our website is designed to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards.
- We carry out an accessibility audit on an annual basis, and fix issues that are identified. The most recent audit was carried out in March 2024.
- Accessibility is built into our design and publishing process so that new content and services are developed with inclusivity in mind.
- This statement was prepared on 14 October 2025 and will be reviewed and updated following the next annual audit.
If you need information in a different format
If you need information in another format, such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio or braille, please contact us:
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
An Lòchran
10 Inverness Campus
Inverness
IV2 5NA
e-mail: enquiries@hient.co.uk
tel: +44 (0)1463 245 245
You can also contact us through Contact Scotland.
Contact Scotland is Scotland’s online British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting service for public sector authorities, funded by the Scottish Government.
The service operates 7 days a week from 8am – 12 midnight. Full instructions are available on the Contact Scotland website.
The AbilityNet website has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Reporting accessibility problems
If you find any problems not listed on this page, or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us:
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
An Lòchran
10 Inverness Campus
Inverness
IV2 5NA
e-mail: hie.marketing@hient.co.uk
tel: +44 (0)1463 245 245
If you are not happy with our response, you can follow our complaints handling procedure.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS):
- Website: www.equalityadvisoryservice.com
- tel: 0808 800 0082
Where to next?
Policies and publications that set out how we operate.
Customer Service Charter
The Service Charter sets out the high standards of service you can expect from HIE.
Complaints handling procedure
We're committed to providing the best quality of customer service possible.
Freedom of Information
Find out about HIE's obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act and how to make a request.
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