This website has been developed in accordance with WCAG 2.0 standards in compliance W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, to ensure an inclusive and equal experience for all users.

The options we have put in place may not be suitable for all users with disabilities so we welcome your feedback on your experience or suggestions of how we can improve accessibility.

Below we have outlined some of the steps we have taken to improve accessibility and compatibility with assistive technology.

You will also find there are many ways you can customise your browser settings to improve your experience and we have included a link to the most recent guidelines.

What have we done?

Accessibility Toolbar

An accessibility toolbar is available for your convenience.  This enables the following features as toggled options:

  • Colour contrast – increases contrast to high luminance
  • Grayscale – reduces contrast to low luminance
  • Fontsize adjustment – text only zoom option

Screen Reader

Each page and post has the option to use a reader whoch enables you to listen to the content on the page.  Click the button to toggle the feature on or off.

Titles & Headings

  • Page titles are all H1 tags and are not used elsewhere on the page which makes it easier for screen readers to identify the page title.
  • Page titles are consistent with the slug which is the part of the URL that appears on the Browser Tab or Title Bar.
  • The page has been laid out with clearly defined section headings in appropriate heading markup such as H2, H3 and H4 tags.

Fonts & Content

  • All text on this website is set in a relatively-sized standard web font (Arial, size 14). This means that you can resize the text easily from within your browser or using the Font Resizer on the Accessibility Toolbar.

 Images

  • Embedded images in text blocks have been minimised to make text more readable for screen readers.
  • ALT tags and caption text has been used to make images readable if they are not displayed.
  • Title attributes from images inserted into post content and featured images have been removed.
  • The use of images of text wherever possible has been avoided and text links are provided.

 Links & Buttons

  • Full URL links have been used for links to all external sites.
  • Meaningful text has been used for internal links to other pages on the site.
  • Navigation buttons have been designed to enable them to be read by screen readers with link text rather than images.

 Colour Contrast Ratio

  • All background and foreground colour combinations have been checked and pass the Relative Luminosity Test.
  • Where the luminosity contrast is lower the text has been used in size 16 font size or higher.
  • Colour is never used as the only way to convey information.

Site Navigation & Keyboard Access

  • Navigation throughout the site works in a consistent way.
  • All pages of the website have been included in the main navigation menu making it possible to use the TAB key for navigation.
  • In browsers where the TAB key is enabled, keyboard focus is highlighted by a dark grey border.
  • A search box has also been provided to assist you in finding information.  We advise the use of keywords as search text.

Forms

  • Forms can be navigated using the TAB key.

 

What can you do?

Zoom to enlarge text and images

On a PC:

  1. Hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and press ‘+’ to enlarge.
  2. Hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and press ‘-‘ to reduce.
  3. To reset hold down ‘Ctrl’ and press ‘0’.

On an Apple Macintosh computer hold the ‘Cmd’ (Apple) key instead of ‘Ctrl’.

Browser specific options

Most browsers have the options to set your own preferences for websites you visit.  These settings will override the default settings on the website you are viewing.  The typical accessibility options that can be changed are:

  1. Change font sizes – set the required font size and standard web font.
  2. Switch off images – remove all images so only text is displayed.
  3. Change colour scheme – change the font colour, background colour and the links colours to your preferred colour scheme.

To make these changes in your browser you can find the latest guidelines below:

Firefox – https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/accessibility-features-firefox-make-firefox-and-we#w_setting-fonts-and-colors

Internet Explorer – http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/internet-explorer-accessibility-options#1TC=windows-7

Google Chrome – https://support.google.com/a/answer/2821355?hl=en#h4_chrome

Opera – http://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/personalize/

Safari (Mac) – https://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/osx/

Apple Mobile Devices – https://www.apple.com/uk/ios/accessibility-tips

Assistive Technology

There are a number of different softwares available to help people with various difficulties to use websites.