Accessibility

Access keys

Most browsers support jumping to specified links or pages by typing keys defined on the web site. On Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key.

Certain pages on this site can be accessed using the following access keys (as adopted by the UK Government):

Access key s - Skip Navigation to page content
Access key 1 - Home Page
Access key 9 - Contact
Access key 0 - Accessibility and Access keys (this page)

Site structure and content

Navigation: We have tried to make our site navigation as clear and simple to use as possible. All main navigation menus are text based and use no images or JavaScript.

Headings and navigation menus: HTML heading tags are used to convey document structure. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles etc..

Images: All images used in this site include descriptive alt tag attributes. Where an image has no use other than being decorative, the alt tag is set to null to allow easy reading of the site by all users.

Colours: We have taken care to ensure that the site's font and background colour combinations contrast significantly and are effective in ensuring information is still clear when viewed in different colour combinations.

If you wish to override the site's colours, you can do this by changing your browser settings to your own preference.

Font size: The font sizes we use on our site are not scalable. We have therefore provided an alternative stylesheet which can be activated by clicking the next link.

Switch to a larger font size >>
Switch back to the default font size >>

Stylesheets: This site uses cascading style sheets for some elements of visual layout. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, or you have chosen to switch them off, we have endeavoured to ensure that the content of each page is still readable and clearly structured without stylesheets.

Tables: To allow screen readers to render them intelligently, where appropriate we have used the TH tag to mark the column headings of the table columns.

Tables used for layout use none of the above attributes to ensure that they are not confused with data tables.

Forms and fields: All forms fields follow a logical tab sequence to ensure easy navigation.

Form fields also have "id" attributes to explicitly associate the form field with its appropriate label to allow for easy entry of data.

JavaScript: Javascript may be used for some elements of this site. Where it is used then all pages and process are still accessible should Javascript be turned off.

Links: All links have been written to make sense when taken out of context. Where appropriate, we have also added link title attributes to describe the link in greater detail.

Copy: We have tried to ensure that the copy on our website is well laid out and easy to understand.

Browser info

Wherever possible, we would recommend upgrading your browser to the latest version number to take full advantage of this site

This site works with:

Microsoft IE 6: www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/
Mozilla Firefox: www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Apple Safari: www.apple.com/safari/
Netscape Navigator: browser.netscape.com/