Accessibility
www.hertslink.org/buildingfutures has been designed to be accessible to all users, irrespective of browser type, speed of connection or physical ability, and to meet at least conformance level Double-A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG).
If you have any problems with our website, please contact us and tell us about the problem.
Conformance to these Guidelines will help make the Web more accessible to users with disabilities and will benefit all.
Browsealoud - help with reading text
A considerable section of the population has difficulty reading printed or on-screen text. That is why hertdsdirect.org is enabled. Browsealoud is a small program that works with your browser to "read" out the content of the page. This means if you download and install Browsealoud you can hear the words rather than having to read them. Browsealoud software is free to download and free for you to use.
You may find this helpful if:
- You have problems reading
- English is not your first language
- You have Dyslexia
- Your sight is mildly impaired
- To get browsealoud go to Browsealoud downloads
Accesskeys
One of the recommendations in the W3C-WCAG guidelines is the provision of Accesskeys on all web pages.
Accesskeys are keyboard shortcuts which allow users to navigate around the website without having to use a mouse or similar device.
To use these accesskey shortcuts, Windows users should press the "alt" key together with the relevant number below, then 'enter'.
Macintosh users should press the 'Ctrl' key together with the accesskey, then "enter".
This website uses the recommended UK Government accesskeys where they are relevant:
1 Homepage
3 Sitemap
7 Contact us
9 Accessibility
L Links
P Partners
A Air
D Design
E Energy
M Materials
N Noise
W Waste
H Water
W3C Web Standards
An integral part of conforming to the W3C Accessibility Guidelines is the adherence to W3C Web Standards in the design and coding of all web pages on hefqol.org.
By designing to Web Standards, the informational content of web pages becomes accessible to many more people, irrespective of their physical ability or the internet browsing device that they may be using.
The following W3C reference links lay down the content mark-up and styling standards that hertsdirect has adopted, and that the web as a whole is moving towards:
W3C XHTML specification and guidelines