Note: If you are unintentionally viewing this site without style-sheets please note that it will look much better in a browser that supports web standards. However, its essential content (below) is accessible in any browser or internet device.

Accessibility features

We aim to provide you with a website that is potentially useable and enjoyable by all yet also protects your business or organisation within the latest legislation.

Website accessibility is not only about providing access to disabled people, whether they have minor/major visual impairments or physical disabilities preventing the use of a mouse for example. It is also about enabling other users to benefit from your online presence who may use mobile devices, older browsers and text-only browsers. Layout, navigation, and clear distinction of content are just some considerations that are often missed, rendering a website useless for some users.

How?

" There are two million people with sight problems in the UK. Good design can make your websites, information materials, goods and services and buildings accessible to them "
Source: RNIBFor access technologies to function properly, web pages must be well designed and written in valid (X)HTML. The internet is an information medium, and as such we use XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets to seperate the information and layout respectively. The result is clear, accessible website content - however the website is viewed, the all-important content and functionality is always available. This is in contrast to many websites where the content is often rendered into a visual form - a heady mix of unweildy, slow to load, poorly manageable web pages where accessibility to information and all-important search-engines, can often be poor.

Under normal circumstances we provide tailor-made style-sheets for both presentation and layout of your website and also for print versions of your site. The printable version of this website is viewable by selecting 'Print Preview' from the 'File' menu in Internet Explorer on all pages except the current page.

The print version has been purposefully left off the current page so that you may view the page in terms of pure accessible content alone. Again, in Internet Explorer select 'Print Preview' from the 'File' menu. Whilst this version lacks aesthetics, the page content and functionality itself is easily used by viewers using text-only browsers and screen-reading software. Note that the first 'Skip Navigation' link, invisible under normal browsing conditions, allows users using access keys or screen-reading software to jump straight to the page content.

There are various ways in which accessibility issues are addressed on our websites which are not always apparent to your usual audience yet can be of benefit to all:

Why?

It makes sense not to block a potential 1 in 7 internet users from your website! The presence of in-built website accessibility can confer a positive image upon your business or organisation and provide you with a broader market potential. Aside from the ethical reasons for ensuring your website is accessible there are also increasing legal implications. In the UK all government websites are required to reach a specified degree of accessibility and in the USA 'Section 508' legislation is aimed at enforcing certain accessibility initiatives.

Furthermore in the UK the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 was introduced to take measures aimed at solving discrimination which many disabled people face. The Act protects disabled people in the following areas:

Employers have a duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled employees where they are placed at a substantial disadvantage
Businesses and other organisations are required to make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure their goods, facilities and services, whether free or otherwise, are accessible inclusive of websites
Minimum standards are set to assist disabled people to use public transport

Not taking accessibility into account from the outset can potentially lead to an expensive and disrupting rebuild for a website.