Web standards
To ensure that we meet the needs of all our customers we have developed our own set of standards and guidance based on best practice.
We have programmed our website following accessibility guidelines and web standards. We try to maintain WAI Level Double-A accessibility.
The Government requires that all public sector web sites - whether for central or local government - should meet the W3C's guidelines on accessibility to WAI Level Double-A standard.
We strive to achieve and maintain levels of accessibility that conform to the Double-A standard, but in reality it is very hard for a large website with so many authors to maintain such compliance.
Through further development of our web services and the help of our 3rd party suppliers we are striving to improve the level of accessibility of all our information.
The site is developed using valid XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.1. Our site content is separated from presentational elements, which makes it available to any visitors that use technologies such as a screen reader or text only browser.
You may confirm the validity of our XHTML at http://validator.w3.org/ and CSS at http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
What is an accessible website?
An accessible site is one that accommodates the full range of users. Designing for accessibility therefore means accepting that, for online information, there is:
no standard information user, and,
no standard device for browsing information
An accessible web site does not exclude anybody due to:
Accessible websites prioritise clear content, structure and ease of navigation over frilly aspects of design, however they also need not be visually unattractive, nor are they prevented from using the latest web technologies, provided that all information is still accessible to users.
Change text size and contrast
You can use the icons at the top of every web page to change the size of the text that appears on this website.
The icon above changes the page to a large text size and high visibility colour scheme.
The BBC give detailed advice on how to set up your computer and web browser to improve your experience on the web.
Access keys
Access keys are keyboard shortcuts which allow the user to navigate around a website or a piece of computer software without having to use a mouse or other pointing device. Find out more on our access keys page.
Readability
We have made every effort to ensure this web site is easily readable using 'plain English'. In addition, we have ensured that the design of this website is not an obstacle to its usability and readability.
Listen to our website
This website is speech enabled with Browsealoud for those who have difficulties reading web pages. Find out more on our Browsealoud page.
A note about interactive mapping
The council strives to meet the needs of computer users with visual impairment or other conditions that limit accessibility. Due to the graphically intensive nature of our interactive mapping application, this geographic information can not be currently presented in a fully accessible format.