How can we make this website more accessible for you?

We want to make sure that everyone has an equal chance to benefit from what we have to offer. So, we've included a range of different accessibility tools to help you get the most out of this website.

They're designed around the things that people tell us would make the site easier for them to use.

Just click on the one that best describes your needs:

• It would be better if things were bigger
• It would be better if things were higher contrast

Good to know

This website also follows Government accessibility guidelines and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v1.0. If you need more in-depth information about accessibility, including some of the other features this site uses, you can find it here.

It would be better if things were bigger

This site allows you to magnify things in two different ways:

1. You can increase everything on the page, including text, images and navigation elements all at once by using the zoom function.
2. You can increase only the size of the text, leaving other elements, such as images, as they are. Instructions for different browsers are given below.
   
   In Internet Explorer
   From the top menu bar choose - View Menu > Text Size. Alternatively hold Alt + V, then press X followed by Return.
   
   In Firefox
   From the top menu bar choose - View Menu > Zoom. Alternatively hold Ctrl + PLUS SIGN(+) or Ctrl + HYPEN(-) or Ctrl + '0'. The three options relate to increase, decrease or normal size options. It is important that 'Zoom Text Only' is selected.
   
   In Safari
   Click on the 'View' menu with mouse – 'Make Text Bigger' or 'Make Text Smaller'. Alternatively, 'Apple' and 'PLUS SIGN (+)' or 'HYPEN (-)'.
   
   In Opera
   Hold Alt + V, then press Z followed by 0 (zero). Opera also allows you to press + and – on the keyboard to increase and decrease the size respectively.

It would be better if things were higher contrast

If you have dyslexia or sight impairment you may find our 'High Visibility' option more user-friendly. This changes both the text and background colour of the site to give better contrast. It also increases the text size too.

It's easy to switch to the 'High Visibility' setting – just click the link in the top right hand corner of each page on the site.

How we support universal accessibility

There are a number of ways in which we aim to support universal accessibility:

• A common design throughout.
• Use of cascading style sheets (CSS1) for visual layout. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets, the content of each page should nevertheless be readable.
• Use of relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified 'text-size' option in visual browsers.
• All images have appropriate alternative text descriptions (ALT text).
• If you use text-only or audio browsers you can 'skip over' the main page navigation buttons (rather than having to tab through them manually at the start of every page) and jump immediately down to the main page content.
• Avoiding the use of frames.
• Links are written in such a way that you can predict where a link is likely to take you. All links open in the same browser window unless otherwise specified.
• Whenever Word and PDF files are provided on a page (usually for large, complex documents) their file size is indicated, together with help and advice on how to read them. Before you can read PDF files you will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer which can be downloaded from www.adobe.com. Useful information on PDF files and their accessibility is available at: access.adobe.com.
• Use of valid html code (XHTML 1.0 Strict) to support aural and Braille technologies.
• All of our forms are designed to follow WAI and RNIB guidelines. Each form field is labelled and you may use your tab button to move through the form.
• Advice on changing your text size.

Changing colours

Changing the site's background colour can be particularly useful for users who rely on magnification technology, as white can produce an uncomfortable glare. It is also possible to change the colour of body text on the site. Both can be achieved by changing preferences in your browser.

Further information on accessibility

• W3 accessibility guidelines – a list of guidelines and the reasons behind each.
• W3 accessibility techniques - how to implement the guidelines.
• W3 accessibility checklist - a busy developer's guide to accessibility.
• Web Accessibility Initiative - background information on the WAI initiative.
• RNIB web accessibility resources - details of accessible information services offered by RNIB.

Accessibility software

• JAWS - a screen reader for Windows. A time-limited, downloadable demo is available.
• Lynx - a free text-only web browser for blind users with refreshable Braille displays.
• Links - a free text-only web browser for visual users with low bandwidth.
• 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.