We are well aware that some people with disabilities find using the internet difficult and we also know that many sites do not accommodate those with visual or other disabilities. With this foremost in our mind we have tried our very best to make this website as accessible as possible.
An accessible website ensures that all visitors have the same user experience whether they use assistive technology or not. This website meets level 2 (and in part level 3) of the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative standards and guidelines for creating accessible websites. We have introduced the following features to ensure the best use of our site by all of our users.
A hidden menu has been placed at the beginning of each page to allow screen reader users to link to the main content areas of the page.
HTML heading tags are used to convey document structure. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles, etc.. 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.
All images used in this site include descriptive alt tag attributes. Where an image has no use other than being decorative the alt tag is set to null to allow easy reading of the site by all users.
We have taken care to ensure that the site's font and background colour combinations contrast significantly and are effective in ensuring information is still clear when viewed in different colour combinations.
Most of the font sizes we use on our site are sizable. You can change the font size to make it either larger or smaller via your browser settings.
This site uses cascading style sheets for all visual layout. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the use of structured semantic mark up ensures that the content of each page is still readable and clearly structured.
All forms fields follow a logical tab sequence to ensure easy navigation. Most form fields also have 'label' and 'id' attributes to explicitly associate the form field with its label to allow for easy entry of data.
The use of JavaScript has been kept to an absolute minimum. Where it is used then all pages and process are still accessible should JavaScript be turned off.
All links have been written to make sense when taken out of context. Where appropriate, we have also added link title attributes to describe the link in greater detail.