Accessibility statement

This page states our intention that this website is usable and accessible to all users and details of some of the measures taken. This website conforms to the Guidelines for UK government websites that support the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, Level AA, to ensure a Web accessibility standard has been achieved and is maintained.

Accessibility features on this website

The following features improve navigation for screen reader users, keyboard navigation and users of text-only browsers.

Navigation shortcuts

There is a short menu at the start of every page that allows you to jump directly to the most important parts of the page, including main content and navigation. Sighted people who use the keyboard to navigate will see these links appear on screen when using the Tab key to navigate through the page.

Each shortcut has an access key assigned.

Access keys

Access keys are keyboard shortcuts that replace the need to use the mouse for navigation, in browsers that support them. In Internet Explorer on Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key. Then press Enter to activate the link.

The following access keys are available throughout the website:

Navigation Shortcuts

There is a short menu at the start of every page that allows you to jump directly to the most important parts of the page, including main content and navigation. Sighted people who use the keyboard to navigate will see these links appear on screen when using the Tab key to navigate through the page.

Each shortcut has an access key assigned.

Access Keys

Access keys are keyboard shortcuts that replace the need to use the mouse for navigation, in browsers that support them. In Internet Explorer on Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key. Then press Enter to activate the link.

The following access keys are available throughout the website:

s
Jump to Content
n
Jump to Site Navigation
f
Jump to Colophon
2
Jump to Contact Us
0
Jump to Accessibility Statement

Structured, semantic markup: Headings and navigation menus

  • HTML heading tags are used to convey document structure. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles, and so on. For example, on this page, JAWS users can skip to the next section within the accessibility statement by pressing ALT+INSERT+2.
  • Navigation menus are marked up as HTML lists. This ensures that the number of links in the list is read out at the start and it can be skipped easily.

Images

All content images used in this site include descriptive alt attributes. Purely decorative graphics include empty alt attributes. Images used for headings are applied using style sheets — since the heading exists as text behind the graphic, alt attributes are unnecessary.

Colours

We have checked the site’s font and background colour combinations against the different colour blindness conditions and ensured that all information is still clear.

If you wish to override the site’s colours, you can import your own style sheet.

Font sizes

You may change the font size of this document to your preference through your browser:

  • In Internet Explorer, select View, then Text Size, and then your preferred size.
  • In Netscape select View, then Text Zoom, and then your preferred percentage size.

If you wish to override the site’s font settings, you can import your own style sheet.

Style sheets

This site uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for visual layout. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the use of structured semantic markup ensures that the content of each page is still readable and clearly structured.

If you wish, you may import your own stylesheet into this website:

  • In Internet Explorer select Tools, then Internet Options, and then Accessibility. Next click on any or all of three checkboxes to ignore colours, font styles or font sizes. In the same window you can change your style sheet by clicking the checkbox that says, ‘format document using my style sheet’ then simply browse to your style sheet and click OK.
  • In Netscape select Edit, then Preferences and then Appearance. You will then be given the choice to specify your own colours and fonts.

Tables

Tables are not used for layout.

Forms

All forms follow a logical Tab sequence.

Labels are associated with fields using HTML label tags.

Scripting

The site is fully accessible if scripting is unavailable.

Links

Linking text have been written to make sense out of context.

Where appropriate, links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, for example to advise you if the link will open in a new window.

Accessibility features in your browser

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Standards compliance