We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability.
We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.
This website endeavours to conform to level Double-A of the World Wide Web Consortium W3C <a href=”http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/”>Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0</a>.
These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user friendly for all people.
This site has been built using code compliant with W3C standards for HTML and CSS. The site displays correctly in current browsers and using standards compliant HTML/CSS code means any future browsers will also display it correctly.
Whilst we strive to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.
We are continually seeking out solutions that will bring all areas of the site up to the same level of overall web accessibility. In the meantime should you experience any difficulty in accessing our website, please don’t hesitate to <a href=”/contact”>contact us</a>.
<h2>Where possible use an up-to-date browser</h2>
By using an up-to-date browser (the program you use to access the internet) you will have access to a much richer set of options to aid you as you navigate your way around this site.
Standard browsers are below with links to install each of them:
<ul>
<li><a href=”https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/new/”>Firefox</a></li>
<li><a href=”https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95346?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en-GB”>Chrome</a></li>
<li><a href=”https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204416″>Safari (Mac only)</a></li>
<li><a href=”https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/internet-explorer.aspx”>Internet Explorer</a></li>
<li><a href=”https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/microsoft-edge”>Edge</a></li>
</ul>
Once installed, each will bring its own selection of accessibility options and may allow further options via the use of plug-ins. For more details see the Accessibility page for each one:
<ul>
<li><a title=”Firefox Accessibility” href=”https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/accessibility-features-firefox-make-firefox-and-we?esab=a&s=accessibility&r=0&as=s” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Firefox</a></li>
<li><a title=”Chrome Accessibility” href=”https://www.google.co.uk/accessibility/products-features.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Chrome</a></li>
<li><a title=”Safari Accessibility” href=”https://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/mac/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Safari (Mac only)</a></li>
<li><a title=”Explorer Accessibility” href=”http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/internet-explorer/ie-accessibilty-options” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Internet Explorer</a></li>
<li><a href=”https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/accessibility” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Edge</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Options in your browser</h3>
Most modern browsers all share the most common accessibility tools, here is a list of useful features:
<strong>Incremental Search</strong>
Incremental search allows you to progressively search a web page for a particular word or phrase on a page. To enable this on your browser, press and hold Ctrl/Command and then tap F. This will open a box to type your search into. As you type, the matches will be highlighted on the page for you.
<strong>Spatial Navigation</strong>
Hitting tab will jump you to each of the items you can interact with on any page. Holding the SHIFT key and then pressing tab will take you to the previous item.
<strong>Caret Navigation (Internet Explorer and Firefox only)
</strong>Instead of using a mouse to select text and move around within a webpage, you can use standard navigation keys on your keyboard: Home, End, Page Up, Page Down & the arrow keys. This feature is named after the caret, or cursor, that appears when you edit a document.
To turn this feature on, press the F7 key at the top of your keyboard and choose whether to enable the caret on the tab you are viewing or all your tabs.
<strong>Space bar
</strong>Pressing the space bar on a web page will move the page you are viewing down to the next visible part of the page.
<strong>Text fonts</strong>
Depending on your browser, you can override all fonts on the site to one that is easier for you to read. Options can be found in your browser’s settings/preferences.
<ul>
<li><a title=”Change Font in Firefox” href=”https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/change-fonts-and-colors-websites-use#w_changing-font” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=d56c22f7-23a1-4362-863d-a461c228f39a&w=26&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” />Change Font in Firefox</a></li>
<li><a title=”Zoom in Google Chrome” href=”https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95416?hl=en-GB” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=80fda0c6-a9b8-4bec-b996-b40b72d13bc9&w=25&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” /></a><a title=”Change Font in Chrome” href=”https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/96810?hl=en” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Change Font in Chrome</a></li>
<li><a title=”Change Font in Safari” href=”https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207209″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Change Font in Safari</a></li>
<li><a title=”Zoom in explorer” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11542/windows-use-magnifier” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=1ecdf184-c078-43d0-8f5a-6043141282b1&w=25&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” /></a><a title=”Change Font in Internet Explorer” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17456/windows-internet-explorer-ease-of-access-options” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Change Font in Internet Explorer</a></li>
<li><a title=”Change Font in Edge” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028023/windows-change-font-style-and-size-for-reading-view-in-microsoft-edge” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=09e12437-68a9-49f9-9e42-5f77d695f3c1&w=26&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” />Change Font in Edge</a></li>
</ul>
<strong>Enlarge your view</strong>
You can activate the browser zoom via these keyboard shortcuts
<ul>
<li><a title=”Zoom in Firefox” href=”https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/font-size-and-zoom-increase-size-of-web-pages” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=d56c22f7-23a1-4362-863d-a461c228f39a&w=26&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” />Zoom in Firefox</a></li>
<li><a title=”Zoom in Google Chrome” href=”https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95416?hl=en-GB” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=80fda0c6-a9b8-4bec-b996-b40b72d13bc9&w=25&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” /></a><a title=”Zoom in Google Chrome” href=”https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/96810?hl=en” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Zoom in Chrome</a></li>
<li><a title=”Zoom in Safari” href=”https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207209″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Zoom in Safari</a></li>
<li><a title=”Zoom in explorer” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11542/windows-use-magnifier” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=1ecdf184-c078-43d0-8f5a-6043141282b1&w=25&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” /></a><a title=”Zoom in Internet Explorer” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17456/windows-internet-explorer-ease-of-access-options” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Zoom in Internet Explorer</a></li>
<li><a title=”Change Font in Edge” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028023/windows-change-font-style-and-size-for-reading-view-in-microsoft-edge” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img class=”mediaImage” title=”” src=”/GetImage.aspx?IDMF=09e12437-68a9-49f9-9e42-5f77d695f3c1&w=26&h=25&src=mc” alt=”” /></a><a title=”Zoom in Edge” href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4000734/windows-10-microsoft-edge-ease-of-access” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Zoom in Edge</a></li>
</ul>
<strong>To zoom your entire computer screen</strong>
Apple Mac and Windows operating system both contain options to enlarge your view of your screen:
<ul>
<li><a href=”http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/make-screen-items-bigger-magnifier”>Windows </a></li>
<li><a href=”https://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/osx/#vision”>Apple OS X</a></li>
</ul>
<strong>Make your computer read the site aloud</strong>
<ul>
<li>NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a free screen reader for computers running on the Windows operating system. The latest version can be downloaded for FREE <a href=”http://www.nvaccess.org/download/”>here</a> (on this page you may be asked for a voluntary donation, if you do not wish to donate, click “skip donation this time”).</li>
<li><a href=”https://wave.webaim.org/”>WAVE</a> is developed and made available as a free community service by WebAIM. Originally launched in 2001, WAVE has been used to evaluate the accessibility of millions of web pages.</li>
<li>Microsoft Windows Narrator is available in most versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems and reads text on the screen aloud and describes events like error messages so you can use your PC without a display. To find out more and how to enable it on your version, please click <a title=”Link to Microsoft Windows Narrator Official Site” href=”http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/hear-text-read-aloud-narrator”>here</a>.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Control your computer with your voice</strong>
Apple Mac and Windows operating systems both provide ways to control your computer with voice recognition:
<a href=”https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17208/windows-10-use-speech-recognition” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Windows</a>
<a href=”https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203085″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Apple OS X</a>
Third party voice recognition software is available too.
<strong>In summary</strong>
We are committed to providing you access to our most valuable resources. If you do spot anything which doesn’t look quite right or have any suggestions for how we might improve our services, then please let us know.
