Accessibility & Best Practice

Disability Essex is committed to ensuring that this website is accessible to everyone. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the accessibility of this site, please contact us.

For general help in making this site and others easier to use, see the BBC's My Web My Way and AbilityNet's My Computer, My Way!

Changing text size

Most browsers feature the ability to resize text on screen to a level you feel comfortable with.

This tool is available in the menu of various browsers as follows:

Browser	Instructions
Internet Explorer 5, 5.5, 6 (PC)	View - Text Size
Firefox, Netscape 8	View - Text Size
Opera	View - Zoom
Netscape 6, 7, Mozilla	View - Text Zoom
Safari (Mac)	View - Make Text Bigger

Alternatively, if you are using a modern browser and have a mouse with a wheel you can also alter the size of the text size by holding down ctrl (PC) or command (Mac) on your keyboard while scrolling up and down with the mouse wheel.

Return to shortcuts

Access keys

The access key function allows lets you surf around a site without using your mouse to click on links.

Using your keyboard, it's possible to jump directly to certain links or certain areas within a page, without having to move your mouse at all.

By holding down alt+[access key] (PC) or ctrl+[access key] (Mac), a link becomes highlighted. You can then hit the enter key to activate the link.

Function	Access key
Skip to content	1
Skip to main navigation	2
Skip to site map	3
Contact us	4
Accessibility statement (this page)	0

Return to shortcuts

Using the tab key

You can use the Tab key on your keyboard to move between links on a page. A single press of Tab highlights the next link, Shift+Tab highlights the previous link.

When you use use the Tab key to move between links on the the Disability Essex website, you'll be taken through them in the following order:
- Main content area of the page
- Right column
- Left column
All forms on the Disability Essex website have a logical tab sequence.

Return to shortcuts
Links

If a link opens in a new window, this will be indicated by a pop-up title text.

Every effort has been made to ensure that link names are distinct and not repeated on pages.

Return to shortcuts
Contrast

We have made every effort to ensure that we have used sufficient contrast on the Disability Essex website but if you notice any colour combinations that cause you problems, please contact us.

Return to shortcuts
Standards compliance
- Our pages conform at a minimum to Level AA compliance as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and endorsed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The majority of AAA requirements are also met.
- All pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict and use structured semantic markup.
- Our site requires a number of different CSS techniques for cross browser compatibility which can cause validator problems. However, we have ensured that all techniques we use are not detrimental to site accessibility.
- We strive to obey the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 with respect to the provision of services online, as required by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).