Accessibility Statement  

Using this website

• The main areas of each web page are defined by Landmarks
• There is a structured use of Headings
• Jump menus are provided to allow you to navigate directly to the main content of the page, the Site Map and this Accessibility Statement. These can be reached by using the Tab key after the page has loaded.
• The Site Map on this website contains links to all the pages on this website in a clean structured list, which may be easier to use.
• We have developed a set of accessibility tools that do not rely on 3rd party plugins or overlays, as these make websites less accessible.  We believe that the only way to truly make our websites accessible for all of our visitors is to include such tools within our code. 
• If you wish to change the text sizes or the screen contrast, please use the options provided under our Accessibility Tools icon. You can reach these with a mouse or using the tab key on your keyboard.
  • ‘Standard text’ will provide a 14px equivalent version on most browsers
  • ‘Large text’ will provide an 18px equivalent version on most browsers
  • ‘Extra Large text’ will provide a 21px equivalent version on most browsers
  • ‘Blue on Yellow", "Yellow on Blue", "White on Black" and "Black on Orange" are different contrast options available, which can be particularly helpful for neurodivergent people. All three text sizes may still be selected when any of these options are also chosen.
  • ‘Text Only’ will strip off all our styles and provide a plain text, linear version
  • The Text Only version can also be displayed in the 4 Colour Contrast Options. 
• To resize the text without our help:
  • In Google Chrome: Customise (3 dots top right) > Zoom > - or +
  • In Edge: Settings and More (3 dots top right) > Zoom > - or +
  • In Firefox: View > Text size > Increase or Decrease
  • In Safari: View > Zoom In or Zoom Out 
  • You can also scroll with the wheel of your mouse whilst holding down the control key (Windows) or Apple key (Mac).
• To use the keyboard instead of the mouse;
  • Use the Tab key to move and browse amongst the menus and links.
  • Pressing ‘Enter’ is the same as clicking a mouse button
  • Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move up or down the page or from left to right.
• There is also a specific Print Style. Should you wish to print off any of the web pages, you will see they will be formatted to ensure they stay one page wide.,
• All images contain an ALT tag unless decorative, where they are marked as empty.
• Links make sense out of context. Wherever possible, title tags have also been used to expand on their meaning.
• Drop-down menu bars to allow you to access child pages from the navigation menu. Each one is marked with an arrow and can be opened with the Enter key. You will be able to clearly navigate through these by just using the Tab key and the Enter key to make a selection. Each page and child page will light up in turn, just as if a mouse had been used. This is called The Tab Test. If you prefer, please use the site map link for quick and easy browsing.
• Most of our site has ‘breadcrumbs’ on the top of each page which allow you to retrace your steps and go back to where you started. However, older sites may not have this facility so you may need to use the ‘Back’ button on your browser. Back buttons are usually on the top left-hand corner of your browser. By simply clicking on this button you can retrace your steps through the pages you have already viewed on our website. Some keyboards also have a Back Button as part of their options.

General Accessibility

• This website conforms to the WCAG 2.2 four principles of accessibility and so is: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust
• We have considered the full range of techniques, including the advisory techniques, as well as seeking relevant advice about current best practices to ensure that this web content is accessible, as far as possible, to all communities.
• This website has been thoroughly tested on multiple browsers, platforms and devices
• This website has been tested using multiple automated accessibility testing software
• This website has been tested by a REAL person with a disability who tested the website and submitted a report to the original designers who then used it to improve accessibility further.

Web Standards

• All CSS and XHTML created by Access by Design validate to the document type.
• Validation does not equal accessibility.
• If a page on this website does not validate it is almost always because a third-party ‘plug-in’ has needed to be employed. Although we try to use only accessible third parties and we alert designers to accessibility issues, rectifying them is beyond our control.
• We reserve the right to use the web standards CSS and XHML buttons on this website as all elements within our control validate correctly.

Further Help

• Sign language interpretation is provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media.
  (Fails under WCAG 2.1 AAA 1.2.6 )

• This site does not use meta access keys (sometimes called ‘hot keys’). Our research suggests that these are actually detrimental to most keyboard users as they already have their own keys set up which are then overwritten or confused by websites (that do not use a consistent approach). We will review this decision periodically and if research proves otherwise (or technology improves) we will resume these techniques.
• This site may fail validation on third-party technologies. This is because we have little or no ability to recode these to meet our high accessibility standards. However, we always aim to use plug-ins that are either accessible, increase the accessibility or have simple accessible alternatives. If forced to choose between accessibility features and validation, we have made the difficult decision to always choose accessibility.