Accessibility

Our website has been built with accessibility and usability in mind, so we hope you can access and use the information you need. This page explains the accessibility features available on the website.

Help with understanding the information

Our writing style presents information in plain and simple language

We have tried to write the information on this website in plain and simple language so it is easy to understand for as many people as possible.

Easy to read information

Some people need to have information and ideas explained in an easy to read way. There is some easy to read information in the background section. These explain things with pictures and simple writing.

Information in your own language

The Welsh website can be accessed by using the 'Cymraeg' link at the top right of each page.

Change the colour of the website

At the top of every page you can change the colour of the website display. This is intended to help people with sight impairments and people with dyslexia. To change the colour click on one of the coloured boxes with a letter 'C' in it at the top of the page.

Change the size of the text

There are various ways to change the size of the text displayed on each page.

Change the text size in the web page

At the top of each page you can click on the 'Text larger' or 'Text smaller' links.

  1. Text larger increases the text size each time you click it.
  2. Text smaller decreases the text size each time you click it.
  3. Text standard puts the text back to the standard size on this website.

Change the text display settings in your web browser

You can also change the text size settings in your web browser. In most web browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer) this is done by going to the 'View' menu and selecting the 'Text size' option.

Flexible page layout so the column width resizes when you stretch the window

Our website has a flexible page layout. The central text column stretches to fit as you resize your browser window. This allows you to adjust the text line length for easier reading at whatever text size you have chosen.

Navigate around the website using a keyboard and access keys

To help you find your way around the website there are a number of navigation aids.

Access keys

If you use a keyboard to navigate websites there are access keys that you can use as shortcuts. We have provided the access keys in the government standard and added a few extra for this website.

  1. S - Skip content
  2. I - Skip to main navigation menu
  3. 1 - Home page
  4. 0 - Accessibility
  5. U - About Us
  6. n - Contact us
  7. q - Legal issues

Using Internet Explorer in Windows

To use access keys in Internet Explorer 5+ press Alt + Access Key then release both keys and press Enter, e.g. Alt + 1 then Enter to go to the home page. In earlier versions of Internet Explorer press Alt + Access Key.

On a Macintosh

To use access keys on Macintosh press Ctrl + Access Key, e.g. Ctrl + 1 to go to the home page.

Firefox 2

To use access keys in Firefox 2 you will need to press Shift + Alt + Access Key, e.g. Shift + Alt + 1 to go to the home page.

Opera

To use access keys in Opera press Shift + Escape then release both keys and press the Access Key, e.g. Shift + Escape then 1 to go to the home page.

Skip to navigation

For people using screen readers the first link on every page says "skip and go to site navigation". Following this link will skip over the pager header and go to the main site navigation menu. The page header is repeated on every page so this avoids hearing it again and again. However, note that you will miss the link to the accessibility page by skipping straight to page navigation. The access key for skipping straight to the navigation menu is l (the letter l for 'left'). You can use this shortcut on any page.

Skip to content

For people using screen readers the second link on every page says "skip to content". Following this link will skip over the pager header and skip over the navigation menu to take you straight to the content of the page. The page header and navigation is repeated on every page so this avoids hearing it again and again. However, note that you will miss the link to the accessibility page and the main navigation menu by skipping straight to content. The access key for skipping straight to the content is 1 (the number one). You can use this shortcut on any page.