We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability.

We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.

This website endeavours to conform to level Double-A of the World Wide Web Consortium  W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2.

These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user friendly for all people.

This site has been built using code compliant with W3C standards for HTML and CSS. The site displays correctly in current browsers and using standards compliant HTML/CSS code means any future browsers will also display it correctly.

Whilst we strive to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.

We are continually seeking out solutions that will bring all areas of the site up to the same level of overall web accessibility. In the meantime should you experience any difficulty in accessing our website, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Where possible use an up-to-date browser

By using an up-to-date browser (the program you use to access the internet) you will have access to a much richer set of options to aid you as you navigate your way around this site.  The standard browsers we would recommend are below with links to install each of them:

Once installed, each will bring its own selection of accessibility options and may allow further options via the use of plug-ins. For more details see the Accessibility page for each one:

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari (Mac only)
• Internet Explorer
• Edge

Options in our site

Alternative Style

Please choose a link below to change the way the site looks. Once set, the site will remain in this style for up to 30 days or until you select a different option.

• Black on white version
• White on black version
• Alternative style
• Reset to standard style

We endeavour to ensure the site looks correct is these different styles but because of the constantly changing nature of the site and its content, this may not always be possible. If you do spot anything which doesn't look quite right, then please contact us and let us know.

Keyboard Short Cuts / Access Keys

Different browsers use different keystrokes to activate access key shortcuts, as shown below:

	Browser	Page	Shortcut
Windows	Firefox or Chrome	Home	Shift + Alt + 1
		Skip navigation menu	Shift + Alt + 2
	Internet Explorer or Edge	Home	Alt + 1
		Skip navigation menu	Alt + 2
	NOTE: For Internet Explorer you will need to press Enter after using the shortcut
	Safari	Home	Ctrl + Alt + 1
		Skip navigation menu	Ctrl + Alt + 2
MacOS	Safari	Home	Command + Alt + 1
		Skip navigation menu	Command + Alt + 2
	Firefox or Chrome	Home	Command + Shift + 1
		Skip navigation menu	Command + Shift + 2

Options in your browser

Most modern browsers all share the most common accessibility tools, here is a list of useful features:

Incremental Search

Incremental search allows you to progressively search a web page for a particular word or phrase on a page. To enable this on your browser, press and hold Ctrl/Command and then tap F. This will open a box to type your search into. As you type, the matches will be highlighted on the page for you.

Spatial Navigation

Hitting tab will jump you to each of the items you can interact with on any page. Holding the SHIFT key and then pressing tab will take you to the previous item.  

Caret Navigation (Internet Explorer and Firefox only)

Instead of using a mouse to select text and move around within a webpage, you can use standard navigation keys on your keyboard: Home, End, Page Up, Page Down & the arrow keys. This feature is named after the caret, or cursor, that appears when you edit a document.

To turn this feature on, press the F7 key at the top of your keyboard and choose whether to enable the caret on the tab you are viewing or all your tabs.

Space bar

Pressing the space bar on a web page will move the page you are viewing down to the next visible part of the page.

Text fonts

Depending on your browser, you can override all fonts on the site to one that is easier for you to read. Options can be found in your browser's settings/preferences.

Change Font in Firefox

Change Font in Chrome

Change Font in Safari

Change Font in Internet Explorer

Change Font in Edge

Enlarge your view

You can activate the browser zoom via these keyboard shortcuts

Zoom in Firefox

Zoom in Chrome

 Zoom in Safari

Zoom in Internet Explorer

Zoom in Edge

Recite Me Toolbar

You can activate the Recite Me Toolbar by clicking on the Accessibility Button on the top right of our website.

There is a User Guide for the toolbar which can be accessed by selecting the button on the toolbar with a lowercase i on it or selecting the cog wheel button on the toolbar and selecting User Guide from the drop down menu.

Screen Reader

You can activate the screen reader by clicking on the play button on the toolbar. You can move forward using the fast forward button on the toolbar and move backwards on the toolbar using the rewind button. You can download the audio version of the page using the download button on the toolbar - the audio will download in MP3 format.

You can change the screen reader speed by selecting the cog wheel button on the toolbar and using the plus or minus symbols beside the Reading speed heading on the drop down menu to speed up or slow down the screen reader. 

From the drop down menu which appears after selecting the cog wheel button on the toolbar you can also choose between a female voice or a male voice, choose whether or not the screen reader can autoplay, and choose whether the tooltips show when you hover over interactive elements such as links.

Translation

You can find and choose from a list of over 100 languages to translate our webpages into by clicking on the button with a Chinese symbol and an uppercase A on the toolbar.

Styling & Customisation

Colour Scheme

You can customise the website's colour scheme using the button with the colour wheel on it on the toolbar. You can choose dark backgrounds, light backgrounds or select your own custom contrasts option from the drop down menu.

Font and text spacing

You can change the font used on the site using the button with an uppercase A and a lowercase a on the toolbar. There are 9 fonts to choose from on the drop down menu. The Default fonts are Quicksand and Open Sans. From the drop down menu which appears after selecting the same button you can also change the line height and the text spacing. 

When selected, the plus button on the toolbar (on the right-hand side of the font button described above) will increase the font size of the text on the page. When selected, the minus button on the toolbar(on the left-hand side of the font button described above) will decrease the font size of the text on the page.

Text Mode

You can activate text only mode using the button with a picture of a document on it on the toolbar. The other tools can still be used in text only mode.

In text only mode you can also change the margin sizes using the button on the toolbar which is on the right hand side of the text only button which has a group of horizontal lines with arrows pointing inwards on either side. There are three margin options.

Reading Aids

The toolbar also provides reading tools including a ruler, screen mask, and a magnifying glass. There is also a Dictionary which readers can use to select text to find out what words mean.

You can reset the toolbar settings using the curved arrow button on the toolbar. You can exit the Toolbar by clicking on the large X on the right-hand side of the Recite me logo in the top right hand corner.

Options on your computer

To zoom your entire computer screen

Apple Mac and Windows operating system both contain options to enlarge your view of your screen:
Windows
Apple OS X

Make your computer read the site aloud

This website has been built with screen readers in mind. Menus, pictures and inputs will have the correct tags and mark up to compliment your chosen screen reader.

We have tested with following tools:


NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a free screen reader for computers running on the Windows operating system.
The latest version can be downloaded for FREE here (on this page you may be asked for a voluntary donation, if you do not wish to donate, click "skip donation this time")



WAVE is developed and made available as a free community service by WebAIM. Originally launched in 2001, WAVE has been used to evaluate the accessibility of millions of web pages. Read more WAVE here


Microsoft Windows Narrator is available in most versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems and reads text on the screen aloud and describes events like error messages so you can use your PC without a display. To find out more about Microsoft Windows Narrator and how to enable it on your version, please click here

Control your computer with your voice

Apple Mac and Windows operating systems both provide ways to control your computer with voice recognition:
Windows
Apple OS X 

Third party voice recognition software is available too.

In summary

We are committed to providing you access to our most valuable resources. If you do spot anything which doesn't look quite right or have any suggestions for how we might improve our services, then please contact us and let us know.