Introduction
We have designed and our website to offer some options to help you find your way arounf the site more easily. We aim for our website to conform to World Wide Web Consortium accessibility standards, however there are some things you can do that may make your experience of using our site even better:
- Skipping to Content and Menus
- Resizing the Text
- Changing the colour scheme
- Customising your computer
- Useful accessibility options
Skipping to Content and Menus
On every page we have included links visible to screen readers, that will allow the screen reader user to skip to specific locations on the page. These being
- Top of the page
- To the main content
- To the primary/main menu
- To the secondary/footer menu
Resizing the Text
- You can resize the font size by clicking on the button. This will increase the text size within the main content area. Pressing again will increase the size further, up to a size of approx 30px.
- The text size can also be reduced by clicking on the button. Pressing again will decrease the size further, down to the default font size.
- You can also reset the text size back to the default size by clicking the button.
- If you prefer to view the page without all the graphics and styling, press the button to view the site in a ‘Text only’ mode.
Changing the Colour Scheme
Along with the text only view, the site can be viewed in one of 3 colour schemes.
- Default style. The button shows the site with the default colour styling.
- High Contrast Style. The button will change the colour styling to an alternative high contrast colour scheme.
- The colour contrast has a ratio of 7.0 : 1
- High Contrast Style. The button will change the colour styling to another alternative high contrast colour scheme.
- The colour contrast has a ratio of 7.4 : 1.
Customising your computer
AbilityNet and the BBC have developed a number of tutorials which tell you how to customise your computer to give you a better experience when using the web. For example, you can find out how to:
- change how information is shown on your screen, to get more on, or to see content more clearly
- change colours and fonts, a good idea if you have a visual impairment and need more contrast
- adapt the mouse, for example, to slow it down, make the pointer bigger, or if you’re left-handed
- change a variety of keyboard settings, including the rate at which the cursor blinks
Go to AbilityNet for more information, or My Web My Way to see the tutorials.
Useful Accessibility Links
You can download free software from the web, and find out about accessibility features for a variety of systems. Select the links below:
- abilitynet.org.uk – for information about customising your computer
- My Web My Way – for information and tutorials, developed by the BBC and AbilityNet, on customising your computer
- screenreader.net – for access to the award-winning free screen reader Thunder
- microsoft.com/enable/training/default.aspx – for details about the Microsoft accessibility wizard and how to use it
- apple.com/accessibility – for details about the Apple Macintosh accessibility features
- opera.com/features/access – for details about the Opera browser’s accessibility features
- accessfirefox.org – to enable accessibility features in Firefox and download extentions