Accessible online services

We want our website to be as accessible as possible. To make our website easy to view, we've designed it in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the RNIB. Find out more using the links below.

Taking time over design

We are always looking for ways to improve our website and make it easier to use, following principles laid down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). We also set our own guidelines. Our guidelines include:

• designing the site for an 800x600 view so horizontal scrolling is not required, even for users with small screens
• using meaningful ALT text for all images to provide descriptive text
• using descriptive hyperlink text
• avoiding the use of frames, which are difficult for special browsers to interpret
• using an easy-to-see web colour scheme
• using an easier to read non-serif font type, size and colour.

However, making the website easy to use goes further than just colour and fonts. We are also working hard at making sure our site has useful content that is laid out in an easy-to-navigate way, taking into consideration people who use speech readers.

Change your browser settings

If you want to alter the way you view any website, from the size of text to the colour of hyperlinks, you can change some of the options in your internet browser. To change settings on the latest version of Netscape or Internet Explorer, follow the instructions for your browser type and version below. These settings should work on most websites but they won't affect images on the screen. If you have problems changing your settings, use the Help menu in your browser toolbar.

Internet Explorer (IE5.x & IE6.x Windows) instructions

To permanently apply font and colour changes

• On the browser Tools menu select 'Internet Options'
• On the General tab, select 'Accessibility'
• Click on the three boxes to show ticks
• Click 'OK' to enlarge text
• On the browser Tools menu select 'Internet Options'
• On the General tab, select 'Accessibility'
• Tick the 'Ignore font sizes specified on web pages' check box
• Click 'OK'
• On the browser menu select 'View'
• Click 'Text size'
• Choose the size of text

To change text and background colour

• On the browser Tools menu select 'Internet Options'
• On the General tab, select 'Colour'
• Deselect the 'Use Windows colours' tick box
• Select the box next to 'Text' and choose a colour
• Click 'OK'
• Select the box next to 'Background' and choose a colour
• Click 'OK'

To prevent graphics and images appearing

• On the browser Tools menu select 'Internet Options'
• On the Advanced tab, scroll down to the 'Multimedia' heading
• Deselect the graphics options 'Animations', 'Videos', 'Pictures' and 'Images' by clicking on the boxes to remove the ticks
• Click 'Apply' then 'OK'

To change the size of the window

On the browser View menu select 'Full screen' or press F11.

To change the colour of links displayed on a screen

• On the browser Tools menu select 'Internet Options'
• On the General tab, select 'Accessibility'
• Click on 'Select ignore colours specified on Web pages' (should contain a tick)
• Click 'OK'
• Select 'General' tab and click on 'Colours'
• Turn off the 'Use hover colours' tick box (should not contain a tick)
• Select 'Visited' and choose the colour that suits you best, click 'OK'
• Select 'Not Visited' and choose the colour that suits you best, click 'OK'
• Select 'OK' for 'Colours'
• Select 'OK' for 'Internet Options'

If you have any problems changing your browser settings, use the Help menu in your browser toolbar.

Netscape 7.x Mozilla 1.x and Firefox

Instructions to enlarge text

• Click on 'Edit' and select 'Preferences' (on a Macintosh click on the application menu and select 'Preferences')
• Select 'Appearance' and click on 'Font'
• Choose the 'Variable Width Font' and 'Fixed Width Font' that you want
• Click 'OK' to set these fonts for all future use, click 'Use my default fonts overriding document specified fonts'

To change text and background colour

• Click 'Edit' and select 'Preferences' (on a Macintosh click on the application menu and select 'Preferences')
• Select 'Appearance' and click 'Colours'
• Select the box next to 'Text' and choose a colour
• Click 'OK'
• Select the box next to 'Background' and choose a colour
• Click 'OK'
• Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' window

To set these colours as your browser default, click on 'Always use my colours, overriding document'.

To prevent graphics and images appearing

• Click 'Edit' and select 'Preferences' (on a Macintosh click on the application menu and select 'Preferences')
• Select 'Advanced'
• Deselect the graphics option 'Automatically load images' by clicking on the box to remove the tick
• Click 'OK'

If you have any problems changing your browser settings, use the Help menu in your browser toolbar.