This website has been designed to be used by a wide audience on a range of platforms. The pages have been built to meet as many of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (Level 2 (‘Double AA’) checkpoints as possible. Where appropriate, further measures are taken to meet Level 3 (‘Triple AAA’) checkpoints as required. For more information on web accessibility, take a look at the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) , Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Structural Markup
The web site is build using XHTML and CSS (Cascading Styles Sheets). When CSS are not applied to a document (or when using a screen reader), the structure of the site is such that it should still flow and make sense.
Semantic Markup
Semantic markup (HTML, XHTML) is used to add implicit meaning to pages, by using the correct notation, for the appropriate set of information. For example, heading tags will be used to denote a page headings, paragraph tags for paragraphs and quotes and cite tags for referencing speakers and authors. This simple, yet powerful notion is giving rise to the ‘semantic web’, allowing for better understanding of information by users, browsers, mobile and other devices. Take a look at the Semantic Web page for more information.
Text Sizing
The site uses only relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified “text size” option in visual browsers. Most modern web browsers will allow you to resize the text content in a page and even zoom in on a whole page. This allows users with impaired vision to have a more useful web experience. Users with a small monitor may also wish to make the font size smaller to allow them to fit more content on the screen.
Javascript & Adobe Flash
Certain areas of websites can use Javascript to add functionality and provide an enhanced user experience. Where Javascript is disabled or not available, a version of the content is been provided with equivalent functionality. Where Adobe Flash (previously Macromedia Flash) is used, a suitable alternative for ‘non-Flash’ users is also provided.
Images
Alternate text is provided where the graphic contains text, the image has a contextual description of value or some other information can be conveyed.
Contrast and Brightness
Where a user is not able to enforce their own colour schemes (for example, in graphic titles and imagery), care is taken to provide sufficient contrast in colour as to aid users with impaired vision.
Feedback
We welcome feedback on the Accessibility and usability of our website. If you have had any problems or any issues while using our site, we would like to hear about it!
Email, phone and address details are on our contact page.