Accessibility statement

We have made every effort to make this site accessible and easy to use for everyone, no matter what browser you choose to use, and whether or not you have any disabilities.

Maintaining an accessible site is an ongoing process and we are continually working to offer a user friendly experience. However, if you have any problems using this website please contact us.

Please note, some sections of this website are controlled by third parties and so it has not been possible for the same standards of accessibility to be applied to them.

Access keys

Most browsers support jumping to specific links by typing keys defined on the web site. On Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key.

Standards compliance

1. We aim to make pages on this site Bobby AAA approved, complying with all the Bobby guidelines. This is always a judgement cal and an ongoing processl; many accessibility features can be measured, but many can not. We have reviewed all the guidelines and believe that all these pages are in compliance.
   
   
2. We aim to make pages on this site WCAG AAA approved, complying wih all priority 1, 2, and 3 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. This is a judgement call and an ongoing process; many guidelines are intentionally vague and can not be tested automatically. We have reviewed all the guidelines and believe that all these pages are in compliance.
   
   
3. We aim to make pages on this site to be Section 508 approved, complying with all of the U.S. Federal Government Section 508 Guidelines. This is an ongoing process.
   
   
4. In technical language, all pages on this site should be valid to Hyper Text Mark-up Language XHML 1.0 Transitional or XHTML 1.0 Strict and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). A program can determine with 100% accuracy whether a page is valid XHTML. For example, check the home page for XHTML validity.
   
   
5. All pages on this site use structured semantic markup. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles.

Links

1. Many links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, unless the text of the link already fully describes the target (such as the headline of an article).
   
   
2. Links are written to make sense out of context.

Images

1. All content images used in this site include descriptive ALT attributes. Purely decorative graphics include null ALT attributes.
   
   
2. Complex images include LONGDESC attributes or inline descriptions to explain the significance of each image to non-visual readers.

Visual design

1. This site uses cascading style sheets for visual layout.
   
   
2. This site uses only relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified "text size" option in visual browsers.
   
   
3. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the content of each page is still readable.

Changing the settings on your computer

To suit your individual needs, you can change the settings on your computer to:

1. increase the size of text
2. increase the size of the on-screen mouse 'pointer'
3. adjust the speed and sensitivity of the mouse
4. adjust the responsiveness of the keys on a keyboard
5. change the on-screen colours to improve contrast
6. adjust the brightness or contrast on the screen

Often this is done via the 'settings' or 'accessibility options' on your computer. The 'help' section of your computer should show you how to change your computer's settings.

Some software allows you to change the text size by selecting the 'view' option in the top menu bar and altering the text size to 'large'.

Most computers have other basic built-in accessibility options including 'text-to-speech' features and magnifiers, which increase the size of a part of the screen when you point to it.

If you're deaf or hearing impaired, you may value an on-screen display that alerts you when your computer makes an alert sound (for example, when a new email message arrives).

Keyboard shortcuts

If you find a mouse difficult to use, you can carry out most actions on the keyboard. A keyboard alternative to a mouse action is called a keyboard shortcut.

Many common computer programmes come with keyboard shortcuts built in and some also allow you to customise them to your own particular needs.

Computer products and software

Computer products and software are available to help people with particular disabilities, including specialised keyboards or joysticks, screen readers and software that allows you to control a computer through speech.

Accessibility references

1. W3 accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.
   
   
2. W3 accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.
   
   
3. W3 accessibility checklist, a busy developer's guide to accessibility.
   
   
4. U.S. Federal Government Section 508 accessibility guidelines.

Accessibility software

1. JAWS, a screen reader for Windows. A time-limited, downloadable demo is available.
   
   
2. Home Page Reader, a screen reader for Windows. A downloadable demo is available.
   
   
3. Lynx, a free text-only web browser for blind users with refreshable Braille displays.
   
   
4. Links, a free text-only web browser for visual users with low bandwidth.
   
   
5. Opera, a visual browser with many accessibility-related features, including text zooming, user stylesheets, image toggle. A free downloadable version is available. Compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and several other operating systems.

Accessibility services

1. Bobby, a free service to analyze web pages for compliance to accessibility guidelines. A full-featured commercial version is also available.
   
   
2. HTML Validator, a free service for checking that web pages conform to published HTML standards.
   
   
3. Web Page Backward Compatibility Viewer, a tool for viewing your web pages without a variety of modern browser features.
   
   
4. Lynx Viewer, a free service for viewing what your web pages would look like in Lynx.