Accessibility

We are committed to providing a website that’s accessible and easy to use for the widest range of visitors possible. We believe this is an ongoing process and are constantly seeking to improve.

Our website has been designed to adhere to best practices by following W3C standards.

Pages have been built to comply with a minimum standard of WCAG 2.0 single ‘A’ guidelines. Wherever possible we aim to extend this to ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ compliance.

There are a number of steps we have taken to address accessibility needs that are detailed below:

Layout

The site uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control all presentations and layouts so that content is well-structured and easily accessible via assistive devices.

Fonts to help people with dyslexia

There are free downloadable fonts available including Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic to help users with dyslexia or dyslexia-related issues. These can make our site easier to use.

Fonts

Text size can be increased or decreased in your browser by following these steps:

Microsoft Internet Explorer

  • Choose the drop-down menu at the top of the window of the browser marked “view”
  • Options will appear in the drop-down menu, choose “text size”
  • Another drop-down menu should appear with options including “small”, “medium”, “large”, “largest”
  • Select “largest”

Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome

  • Hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and press the + key
  • This will enlarge the text; to enlarge again repeat the procedure
  • Keep repeating until the text is enlarged to your requirements.
  • To make the text smaller press Ctrl on your keyboard and the – key

Apple Safari

  • Hold down the Apple key and press the + key
  • This will enlarge the text; to enlarge again repeat the procedure
  • Keep repeating until the text is enlarged to your requirements
  • To make the text smaller press the Apple key on your keyboard and press the – key

Images

Graphics and images on our website have alternative text, which describes the contents or function of what is displayed on the screen.

Links

Links in sentences are underlined and in a different colour. Links open in the same window unless otherwise stated.

Content

Content across the site has been written and formatted to make it as accessible as possible. This includes:

  • Semantic headings which are descriptive and used to highlight sections of text
  • Clear and easy-to-understand language
  • Meaningful text is used for all links
  • No information is conveyed exclusively through the use of colour

Forms

The fields in forms are clearly labelled, and errors in forms are flagged before a form can be submitted.

Changing colours and fonts

You can change the colour of web pages to increase or decrease the contrast, or to invert the colours. You can also make the font size of web pages bigger. You can do this through settings in your browser (eg Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer). Sometimes you need to install ‘extensions’ or ‘add-ons’ for your browser.

Colour contrast

Wherever possible we have designed pages and chosen colours to be accessible to colour-blind users. Where contrast is limited, we are working towards a solution by reviewing our current colour palette.

Using your voice – voice recognition

With voice recognition, you can talk to your computer. You can open programmes and do other tasks using your voice. Your computer comes with voice recognition programmes. Go to your computer’s settings.

You can also download other voice recognition programmes to install on your computer, which often have more features.

If you can’t see the screen – screen readers

Screen readers will read out menus and buttons, web pages and documents to help you use the computer if you can’t see the screen. There are screen readers built into your computer. Go to your computer’s settings.

You can also download other screen readers that have more features.

Navigation aids

Navigation aids are consistent throughout the site

  • You can return to the homepage at any time by clicking on our logo in the top left-hand corner of the page
  • The search function in the top right-hand corner of the page can be used to find specific pages
  • Where you are in any given section of the website is shown at the top of the page

Rich media content

We are using YouTube to host our videos, descriptions, and captioning. These captions can be accessed by clicking the ‘CC’ button within the video player.

Document downloads

There are a number of PDF documents available for download across the site. You can find out more about how to configure the free Adobe Reader software to obtain greater access to PDF files by visiting the Adobe site.

Download Adobe Reader for free >> 

Feedback

We are continually seeking to make improvements to the site and welcome any comments, suggestions, or feedback.

If you are using adaptive technology and are having problems accessing the information on the site, please email us with details of the problem you encountered and the technology you are using.

Accessibility guides and useful links

The following external websites contain useful advice and information about web accessibility:

More information on how to make your browsing experience easier is available on the BBC’s My Web My Way website. This includes advice and help for those who may benefit from making changes to their browser, operating system, or computer to be able to view the web in a more accessible way.

Policy updated: November 2023