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Southway and web accessibility

Making our website accessible to everyone

We want our website to be easy to use, and as accessible as possible to all types of people, using different types of computer systems or other devices.

An accessible website doesn't exclude anyone because they have a visual impairment or another disability, or because they are older, or because they have a slow internet connection of lack the latest software.

It means that everyone can understand it, navigate around it, contribute to it and use its interactive services.

Most web pages are not totally accessible - nor totally inaccessible. They usually lie somewhere in-between. There are ways to measure the accessibility of websites against internationally-recognised standards. When a website reaches a certain level it can display a symbol from one of the organisations that set the standards.

The Southway website has many features that help make it as accessible as possible - look out for the W3C (external site) symbol and the 'accessible web page' link on many of our pages.

Level Triple-A conformance icon,

Accessibility features on this website include . . .

Clear content and structure, and easy navigation

Our site is divided into obvious sections with plenty of links to other parts of the site. There are permanent features placed consistently on every page - such as links to the main sections (the tabs at the top), a search facility, links to other parts within the particular section (on the left), and the main information (in the middle). The site avoids unnecessary frills or techniques that need technical know-how to use. It concentrates on good solid information written in plain language, presented clearly.

Changing the text size

Some readers prefer the text at a larger size than on the standard web page - especially older people or those with a visual impairment. You can change the text size to suit your needs - use the 'change text size' buttons in the top right hand corner of the page.

image that changes text to smaller size image that changes text to a larger size image that changes text to it's largest size

Or go to your computer's own text-sizing facility - if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, 5.5 or 6 for Windows, go to the menu at the top of the browser page and pick 'View' - from the list of options, select 'Text Size'. Select the size you want from the side menu. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, press the 'Ctrl' key and '+=' key together.

If you are using other browsers, see the RNIB site (external site).

Minimal downloads

Most of the information on the website is on standard web pages that open automatically. We keep the number of pages that need additional software down to a minimum - and only use this approach when absolutely necessary. For instance to see exact online versions of our publications (called PDFs), or short films you may need to download software. But this is always free, and you only need to do it once - these days most computers come with the software already installed, so you may not need to do it at all.

Accessibility ratings

We run our pages through special tests that check how accessible they are. The page is 'scored' depending on how well it meets the standards. But we don't treat this as an end in itself - a page could score a high accessibility rating on the way it works technically, yet still be unclear because it is written in complex language filled with jargon. So we make sure we put the reader first by writing and designing our pages in a user-friendly way.

Always improving

We have made great steps to building an accessible website - but we are always looking to improve. Contact us with any comments or suggestions about making the Southway website even more accessible.