Accessibility
We take accessibility on the internet very seriously and have made every effort to ensure that our website is availabe to all viewers. Where ever possible we have followed accessibility guidelines published by the international web standards organisation (W3C).
Screen Reaaders
If you are using a screen reader to access the pages you may find it beneficial to use the low graphics version. Use this link to switch to the low graphics version, or this link to switch back to the high graphics version.
Access Keys
Access keys have been used on the main menus, but do not apply to the drop down menus. The main menu is numbered left to right ’1 - 6’ and each of the sub menus is lettered top to bottom ’a - v’, starting at ’a’ in each menu.
Additionally, the following access keys are available on every page:
- Home page link - ’0’
- Return to top of page - ’u’
- Terms of Use - ’x’
- Privacy Policy - ’w’
- Accessibility Help - ’v’
These examples show the use of access keys on a windows PC:
To visit the top menu ’About Us’ use key combination, ’Alt + 2’ to change the page.
To then visit ’Staff’ on the side menu use the keys, ’Alt + b’ to change pages.
If you are using an Apple Macintosh computer simply use the ’control’ key instead of the ’Alt’ key, there is no need to press ’return’ at the end.
Acronyms & Abbreviations
Mordern language is full of acronyms and abbreviations, which are often used assuming that the reader understands their meaning. Wherever abbreviations are first used on a page, we try to offer an expanded text version.
There are two reasons for this:
- Screen readers ’sound out’ words phonetically which often leads to nonsensical pronunciations of abbreviations and acronyms.
- By seeing the expanded text version the reader can better understand the content of a page.
Try this example, hold your mouse over ’ASAP’ the cursor should change and after a few seconds a box should also appear giving the expanded text.
Validation
All the pages of this web site have been validated to the W3C ’XHTML’ standard to ensure that the code will work correctly on the majority of web browsers. In addition the style sheets and any RSS feeds have been W3C validated to ensure there are no errors that may effect viewing or operation.
The links below will open new browser windows.
Accessibility
This website has been checked against the W3C accessibility guidelines, with all pages conforming to level A or greater.
The link below will open in a new browser window.
Graphics
All graphics included in these pages have been optimised for fast viewing and because the site is developed using CSS the page load time is minimised.
Browser Compatibility
These pages have been designed and developed to work with a wide range of web browsers on Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers as well as handheld devices. This site has been tested on a range of the most popular browsers for compatibility and we recommend that you use the latest version of your preferred browser for the best viewing of this site. However, should you experience viewing problems please try the low graphics option as this should clean up styling issues with older or redundant web browsers.
Website Links
Throughout this site you will find that links to other web sites have been made available. It is our policy to always open these links in a new web browser window to ensure that you do not lose your place on our web site. Wherever possible these links have been marked with text informing the user of this.
E-mail Links
E-mail links within this web site will either take you directly into your e-mail application or to an on-line form which you can fill in.
