Accessibility
How can I make the pages easier to access and view?
In most
browsers there are options you can set to improve accessibility. In
Internet Explorer select Tools from the menu at the top of the
screen, and then select Internet Options. Click the Accessibility
button and there will be a number of options you can turn on or
off. For example, you can override the size settings of a web page
so that you can to choose the size you require.
The size of the text can be increased in most
browsers as well. In Internet Explorer select View from the menu
and then Text size. Try different sizes until you find the one that
matches your individual requirements (the formatting of some pages
may be slightly disrupted by using very large text settings).
Access keys
We now allow visitors to define their own set of access keys to use
on the Allerdale website. This means a visitor can set up unique
shortcuts that don't conflict with those used by assistive
technologies such as screen readers. Access keys can be easily set
up on our Access keys page.
Adobe Acrobat PDF documents
Many documents and reports within the site are
published in PDF (Portable Document Format), and usually in
Microsoft Word format too.
Viewers with visual difficulties may find it
useful to investigate services that improve the accessibility of
Acrobat documents at http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/index.html.
Accessibility tests
Our new web
site design has developed in conjunction with Nomensa, recognised Web Accessibility
experts. The home page and most content pages now conform to WAI
AAA accessibility standards; the remainder conform to WAI AA
standards. We are working hard to ensure all
content conform to the highest standards, including web pages
produced by supplier systems.
Watchfire Webxact
Watchfire Webxact is a web
accessibility desktop testing tool designed to help expose barriers
to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing
accessibility guidelines, including Section 508 of the US
Rehabilitation Act and the W3C's Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG). Webxact spiders through a website and tests
on a page-by-page basis to see if it meets several accessibility
requirements, including readability by screen readers, the
provision of text equivalents for all images, animated elements,
audio and video displays. Webxact can see local web pages, as
well as web pages behind your firewall. It performs over 90
accessibility checks. During a scan, Webxact checks HTML
against select accessibility guidelines and then reports on the
accessibility of each web page.
W3C WAI
WAI, in co-ordination with organisations around
the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary
areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and
outreach, and research and development. WAI produces accessibility
guidelines. Content providers can use these logos on their sites to
indicate a claim of conformance to a specified level of the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. More information on the
accessibility guidelines can be found at the WAI website.
RNIB - See it Right
Our electronic forms have been assessed by
RNIB for their compliance with WAI AAA accessibility
standards
Mapping services accessibility
Due to the graphic intensive nature of our mapping service,
geographic information and the maps within the borough cannot be
displayed in an accessible format, as defined by current
guidelines. Further information, including details of how to
request the information in an alternative format,
is available on the mapping
guidelines page.
Allerdale Borough Council
