Accessibility
Our website employs various techniques to make sure your browsing experience is fast and convenient.
We adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), used to ensure web sites are designed and written in a way that makes them accessible to everyone.
- where we use images, we use alternative text so that those people who cannot see the image can read the text
- we only use strong colour contrasts
- headings are used correctly to make them readable through screen readers
- links do what they say. We don't use 'click here'
- tables are laid out in tabular form with headings and summaries
- we use style sheets to determine the presentation of our web site - this assists those using screen reading devices
The information here will help you make changes to your computer to make browsing easier.
To change font and colour settings:
- on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
- on the 'General' tab, click on 'Accessibility'
- click in each of the three boxes to show ticks
- click 'OK'.
Text with a sans serif font (such as Arial) is easier to read than a serif font (such as Times New Roman). To change the text font:
- on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
- on the 'General' tab, click 'Fonts'
- in the 'Web page font' and 'Plain text font' lists, choose the fonts you would like to use
- click 'OK'.
To enlarge the text:
- on the 'Browser' menu click 'View'
- click 'Text size'
- choose the size of text.
To change the text colour and background colour:
- on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
- on the 'General' tab, click 'Colours'
- deselect the 'Use Windows Colours' tick box
- select the box next to 'Text' and choose a colour
- click 'OK'
- select the box next to 'Background' and choose a colour
- click 'OK'.
To prevent graphics displaying:
- under 'Tools', click 'Internet Options'
- on the 'Advanced' tab, scroll down to the 'Multimedia' heading
- click on the graphics options ('animations', 'videos' and 'pictures') to remove the ticks
- click on 'Apply', and then click on 'OK'
- if graphics still appear, select 'View' then 'Refresh' from the toolbar, or press F5 to change the size of the window:
- click 'View' then 'Full Screen' from the toolbar, or press F11.
Minimum system requirements
This site is best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.
With an increasing number of browsers and operating system combinations we have not been able to test all possible configurations. However, we have tested the most popular combinations used by our clients. These are:
Microsoft Windows XP
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and above
- Mozilla Firefox 12.0 and above
- Google Chrome 15.0
Microsoft Windows 7
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and above
- Mozilla Firefox 12.0 and above
- Google Chrome 15.0
Apple OSX
- Apple Safari 5.0 and above
You can find out which browser version you are using by following the relevant instructions for your browser below.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 and 8.0
- Select the 'Help' icon on the toolbar at the right of the browser window, this will open a small menu
- Select ‘About Internet Explorer’, at the bottom of the menu
- A pop-up window will display the type of browser you are currently using and the version number
Mozilla Firefox 12.0
- Select ‘Help’ from the browser menus at the top of the window
- Select ‘About Mozilla Firefox’, at the bottom of the menu
- A pop-up window will display the type of browser you are currently using and the version number
Google Chrome
- Select the listing icon from the toolbar on the right of the browser window
- Select ‘About Google Chrome’ from the menu
- A window will display the type of browser you are currently using and the version number
Customised browsers:
We also recommend that you regularly update your PC with any security patches that become available from your operating system manufacturer.
Useful links
If you would like to know more about accessibility and the Internet, you may be interested in the following websites:
- RNIB website - The Royal National Institute for the Blind
- www.w3.org/WAI - W3C accessibility guidelines
- www.bcab.org.uk - British Computer Association of the Blind
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/ - BBC accessibility help, enabling computer users to make the most of the internet whatever their ability or disability.
- https://www.gov.uk/browse/disabilities/rights - The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)
- JAWS - a screen reader for use with Windows.
- 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.