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    Accessibility Statement

    Great Dawley Parish Council is committed to ensuring that this website is accessible to everyone. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the accessibility of this site, please contact our web master/mistress

    1. Text
    2. Visual Elements
    3. Website Navigation
    4. Audio and Video
    5. Scripts and Forms
    6. Keeping up to Date
    7. Other
    8. Solutions to the Limitations of this website
    9. Resources
    10. Glossary and References
    11. Web Standards and Accessibility Checks

    Text

    Semantics

    The website has been coded with correct semantic structure to ensure text based, screen reader browsers and Braille devises can parse the content in the right order and use shortcut keys for the website.

    Language

    The language of the website (English-en) is provided in the header code of the website so that screen readers and Braille output know how to read it.

    Writing for the Web

    Editors for this website have been advised on the importance of using plain English to ensure everyone using the website can understand the content.

    Text Size

    All body text is set to a readable size and is in relative format so that it will re-size in the browser as the user wishes.

    Sans Serif

    Text on the website is in a web safe font and is sans serif which is easier to read on computer screens.

    Layout is still stable if the font is re-sized.

    Visual Elements

    Cross Browser Compatibility

    The website has been tested in all the major modern browsers (Opera, Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 7/8) In Internet Explorer 6 it is still viewable but won’t look as nice as modern browsers because Internet Explorer 6 does not support the new styles and functionality.

    Fixed Width

    This website is designed for the most common screen resolution 1280 x 1024.

    Images

    Images have “alt tags” to tell text based browsers and screen readers what they are.

    Colour Contrast and Blindness

    Colours on the website have been chosen for high contrast and visibility with partially sighted people in mind. The Colour Contrast Analyser tool was used to help choose colours in the right ranges suggested by the W3C.

    Website Navigation

    Keyboard Navigation

    It is possible to browse the website with the keyboard in screen readers and visual browsers.

    For example with Opera it is possible to control nearly every aspect of the browser with the keyboard.

    Top Menu and Sub-Pages

    The top horizontal menu on the website is the same throughout to avoid confusion. On pages with sub pages the pages will be listed on the left hand side of the page. Sometimes they will be on the main page content as well for easy access.

    Links

    Links on the website are a bright blue colour.

    All links provide a title description of the link for text browsers and screen readers.

    Skip Navigation

    You can skip to the main content of the website by clicking the “Skip to Content” link at the top of the site.

    This going through all the menu items every time for screen readers and text browsers.

    Access Keys

    Based on current research access are not implemented on the website. There is no formal standardisation for access keys on all the Internet Browsers, and screen readers use there own shortcut keys which could conflict if they were implemented by us.

    Page Titles

    The page title for pages on the website will appear in the browser title bar to let you know which page you are on. This is also useful for bookmarking different pages.

    Site Map

    There is a full accessible site map listing all pages on the website. This is designed to reflect the hierarchy of the pages as well.

    Opening Links in a New Window

    Opening links in a new window is avoided because this can make navigation confusing for text and screen reader users.

    • Where links do open in a new window there will be some text saying: Opens in New Window.
    • Light box popups are used in the gallery to see the bigger picture if you click on it. Links to bigger pictures are still accessible with JavaScript disabled

    Breadcrumbs

    Breadcrumb navigation is provided on all pages to make it easier to navigate the website.

    Search

    We have a search facility if you are looking for something more specific.

    Audio and Video

    Podcasts and Video

    Text transcripts for podcasts will ideally be provided for hard of hearing and deaf people.

    Scripts and Forms

    Forms

    Forms will be kept simple and clear to use.

    • Fields are labelled so that you can navigate the form with the TAB key and use the RETURN key to submit information.
    • Where a field is required it will be indicated by a * and for visual browsers the label will be yellow.
    • If a field is optional it is white and does not have a *.
    • Forms do not depend on JavaScript to work.
    • Descriptive text will be provided in the fields to describe what to write. Just delete this text replace it with your own.

    Keeping Up to Date

    News Feeds RSS

    RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

    By subscribing to RSS feeds you receive news updates from the website as they are posted. You need a RSS reader in order to subscribe to them.

    There is one for the general news of the site, one for the podcasts and one for the event calendar.

    Other

    Design

    The website has been designed to be clear, functional and easy to use.

    Speed

    The website has been optimised to load as fast as possible. Some pages may be slower to load if they have a lot of text and images.

    Valid XHTML Code to W3C standards

    This website has been coded to W3C web standards: XHTML 1.0 Transitional.

    Valid CSS

    The main style sheet for this website uses valid CSS 2.1 and CSS3 code.

    It also uses some CSS 3 which is not yet fully supported by the W3C validator tool or Internet explorer 6 but is supported by all the major modern browsers.

    Printing Content

    If you need to print content on the website, look for the “Print This Page” link at the bottom of the article. This will take you to a page which is specially designed to be printed.

    404 Error Page

    The site has a 404 Error page in case you stumble upon something that is not on the website either because it has been removed or moved somewhere else.

    No broken Links

    All Links are routinely tested every 5 days and any broken links will be removed. If you find any please notify the web master and we will fix it.

    URLs

    URLs on the site also work without “www” for your convenience.

    Solutions to the Limitations of this Website

    Flash and JavaScript Content

    The presentation of content and functionality of this website is not dependent on JavaScript and Flash and it is used in moderation.

    The site has been tested with JavaScript disabled.

    • It may be used for podcasts if we have any on the site.
    • Email addresses on the site use JavaScript encryption to stop spam so will not be visible if you have JavaScript disabled. You can still use the contact form on the contact page to contact us however if this is the case. Javascript is not needed for the contact form.

    Podcasts

    Podcasts will have a direct download link provided and text (HTML) transcripts where applicable.

    PDF Documents

    Minutes of meetings are provided as PDF documents. To read these documents the browser must have the Adobe Acrobat plug-in installed. However not all browsers support this.

    There will be a link provided to the PDF to HTML conversion tool by Adobe and a link to Access Adobe on pages with PDF documents.

    Resources

    Glossary and References

    Web Standards and Accessibility Checks

    Web pages will be routinely checked for errors and improved.

    These on-line checks should be used as technical guidelines only.

    Checklists Referred To

    25 Point Usability Checklist

    Updated 2010-12-17