We recognise the importance of providing a website that is
accessible to everyone. This includes people with sight problems,
hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments as well as users with
dial-up, older browsers or newer technologies such as mobiles and
PDAs.
This statement outlines the accessibility features of this
website. If you have any comments or suggestions about any aspect
of the accessibility of this site, please don't hesitate to contact
us.
Accessibility features
We have provided the features set out below to improve
navigation for screen reader users, keyboard navigation and users
of text-only browsers.
Structured, semantic markup: headings and navigation
menus
HTML heading tags are used to convey the document layout. H1
tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles, and so on.
Navigation menus are marked up as HTML lists. This ensures that the
number of links in the list is read out at the start and it can be
skipped easily.
Images
Where an image conveys important information, alternative text
will be provided. If the image is used for a decorative purpose the
alternative text will be left blank.
Style sheets, fonts, colours
This site uses software called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to
control all of the presentation and layout. If your browser or
browsing device does not support style sheets, the use of
structured semantic markup ensures that the content of each page is
still readable and clearly structured.
Font sizes and colours can be changed by using your own custom
style sheets or browser settings. The BBC has an excellent guide on
how to do this for various browsers and systems.
Scripting
The content on this site has been written and formatted to make
it accessible and the site is fully accessible if scripting is
unavailable.
Standards compliance
The pages on this site conform at a minimum to Level A
compliance as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
and endorsed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).
This site also meets the majority of Level AA and AAA requirements.
Most of the pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional and use
structured semantic markup and our CSS also validates the pages. We
are committed to providing services online in line with the
Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005, as required by the
Disability Rights Commission (DRC).