Accessibility Statement

We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, including people with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments. The website follows the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Maintaining an accessible site is an ongoing process and we are continually working to provide the most inclusive experience we can.

Please note that content from external sites that we link to or present on our site may not yet reach these standards.

Your accessibility preferences

You can change the way this website looks to suit your preferences. The settings that do this differ from browser to browser, but most browsers offer some or all of the following:

  • Increasing the font size. If you find the size of the text on this website too small you can easily adjust it by using the font size setting in your browser. If you use Internet Explorer 6, go to the "View" menu, select "Text Size" and then select "Larger". If you use Internet Explorer 7 and 8 or Firefox, you can resize text using the zoom function by pressing and holding down "Ctrl" and "+". This will then zoom in allowing users with low vision to see the text more clearly. Use  "Ctrl" and "-"  to decrease the zoom again.
  • Adjusting text and colour changes. Some users who rely on screen magnifiers can find white backgrounds give off a glare. You can change both the background and the text on this website by changing some settings in your browsers. If you use Internet Explorer, look in the 'Tools' menu, select "Internet Options", select "Colors" and make changes to text and background colours in the "Colors" panel.

Accessibility Wizard

If you use Windows, there is a program called Accessibility Wizard that enables you to set preferences for using your PC and the internet. To find the Accessibility Wizard, look in the Start menu, select "Programs", select "Accessories", select "Accessibility", select the "Accessibility Wizard" and then follow the instructions.

Difficulties that people who are blind or who have visual impairments may encounter

Visual impairments include low vision, colour blindness, and blindness. There are many options to modify the computer display and appearance so it is more legible, or to receive information through sound or touch.

If you have visual impairments, you may be interested in the following assistive technology:

  • screen magnifiers enlarge a portion of the screen as you move the focus, thus increasing legibility
  • screen readers verbalise or 'speak' everything on the screen including labels, menus, text, ALT text, etc
  • refreshable Braille displays provide tactile output of information represented on the computer screen
  • Braille embossers work with Braille translation programs, which convert text scanned in or generated via standard word processing programs into Braille, and then print it on the embosser
  • talking word processors are software programs that use speech synthesisers to provide auditory feedback of a page
  • large-print word processors allow you to view everything in large text without added screen enlargement
  • colour contrast testers are software that can be used to gauge whether the colours used on a site have sufficient contrast and are therefore legible
  • voice-activated software, also called speech recognition software, allows you to enter data using your voice rather than a mouse or keyboard