Details of the accessibility features which have
been incorporated within the Richmondshire Council Web
site.
The Richmondshire Council Website has been designed
and developed to provide users with a more enjoyable interactive
experience of the organisation. The new site is designed to be
inclusive and to provide access to all users regardless of
technological or physical disability.
The following highlights some of the initiatives designed to
make the Web site interface and content more usable and
accessible.
Overall framework and interface
The overall Web site has been designed to provide users with a
seamless view and user experience of the council.
The framework and interface has been designed to provide a
consistent structure throughout the Web site, so users will know
exactly where to find navigation, content and important
functionality and information.
The structure of the interface is broken down as
follows:
- Top bar – This includes the Richmondshire
Council branding, accessibility links and breadcrumb links.
All these features are accessible from every page within the Web
site.
- Left panel – This contains the main navigation
system and links, which provide access to the key areas and content
of the Web site. Clicking on a top-level navigation link takes you
to a section homepage and the navigation bar also expands to show
sub-level categories. The architecture of the site is designed so
key content t can be accessed within 3 clicks.
- Content area – The central content area
updates to present the page of content that has been selected.
- Right panel – This provides access to the site
search engine and items of content, which are related to the page
of content you are viewing. Related items include links to internal
pages, related news, external Web sites and document downloads
including PDF,s and Word. All links to external Web sites and
documents open in a separate window.
- Footer – This contains links to privacy
information and other statements.
Access keys
Most browsers support access key functionality, which provide
access to key parts of the Web site interface. To use access keys
follow the following guidelines:
- For Windows users, you can press "ALT" plus the listed access
key
- For Macintosh users, you can press "Control" plus the listed
access key
- Pressing "Enter" will then take you to the page.
We have included the standard recommended access keys, which
include:
S = Skip Navigation
1 = Home
2 = What's new
3 = Site Map
4 = Search
5 = Frequently asked questions
6 = Help
7 = Complaints procedure
8 = Terms and conditions
9 = Feedback
0 = Accessibility details
Tab indexing
Tab indexing is designed to make tabbing through the site
easier but also to provide users with access to the Web site by
using the keyboard only.
The tab order of information within the framework interface is
as follows:
- Accessibility links (Top bar)
- Search
- Main navigation (Left bar)
- Central content
- Features (Right bar)
- Related links (Right bar)
- Footer (Bottom bar)
The interface of the Web site contains a number of skip
keys which enable users to skip different content items within
the page. The skip order is as follows:
Pressing "alt + s" on your keyboard at any time while on a
page, will take you to the first skip anchor point - "Skip Access
tools", then by pressing return while on this skip point it will
jump you to the next consecutive skip point location.
The skip points are as follows:
* Skip Access tools
* Skip breadcrumb
* Skip main navigation
* Skip main content
* and the final location, Search content
High contrast options
Changing text size
Within the top of the interface there is a tool which enables
you can change the text size within the page.
Text only version
As well as making all graphic templates accessible to W3C
priority 3, we have also included a text only option, which enables
all users to view all of the Web site pages in high contrast and
without graphics and pictures.
W3C Compliance
The Richmondshire Council Web site has been designed
to comply with the guidelines issued by W3C/WAI. All templates meet
priority 3 (AAA) guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines, which is the highest level of conformance that can be
achieved.
All templates have been Bobby approved to priority 3 (AAA) and
all warnings identified by Bobby have been manually checked for
conformance.
Assistive technology
Users with disabilities use assistive technology to aid with
the use of a Web site and to increase the overall user experience
and the ability to complete tasks that would not be achievable
otherwise.
As part of the development process the Web site has been
tested using the following technology:
- Screen readers
- Text only browsers
- Screen magnifiers
If you experience any problems using these tools or have any
recommendations to improve accessibility using assistive technology
please contact us, with your feedback and we'll do our best to make
improvements.
Downloading and viewing pdf files
You need Acrobat Reader software to view Adobe Acrobat PDF
files. If you do not have the software installed on your computer,
you can download it for free at
Acrobat
Reader.
Hints if you're using access
technology
Hints for downloading Acrobat
files
There are two ways to download PDFs, First, right click on the
PDF link, select 'save target as' from the pop-up menu, download to
your hard disk. Or, open the PDF, click on the
save icon on the Acrobat toolbar, download to hard disk.
All links to PDF's open in a new window.
Visual design
- Colours – We have tried to use colours
throughout the Website design that provide
maximum contrast between foreground and background items and also
various features on the page including headers, body text and
hyperlinks.
- Images – All interface graphics and images
throughout the Web site have been assigned an Alt-text attribute,
which describes the contents or function of the item.
- Hyperlinks – We have chosen the standard
hyperlink blue colour for all active hyperlink text items, as this
is the most accessible and recognisable standard for link items.
All visited hyperlinks are shown in the standard dark purple
colour
- CSS – Style-sheets have been used for all
visual items and text. This means that you can change the text size
from within the browser by selecting "View" and then "Text
size".
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