ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Using the website

Headings

The heading structure of most pages is logical and hierarchical, allowing screen reader users to navigate quickly to any part of the page.

Images

Images on the website have been tagged with Alternative text descriptions (Alt tags). The Alt tags describe the content of an image to a screen reader user. They are not visible on the page, being detectable only to screen reading software.

Font and Typeface

The typeface used is Atkinson Hyperlegible. This font was developed by the Braille Institute for optimal legibility for individuals who are visually impaired. To quote them, “what makes it different to traditional typography design is that it focuses on letterform distinction to increase character recognition, ultimately improving readability.” Additional settings to the layout of type have also been applied. Letter size has been set at 120% to 150% and word spacing is set at 120% to provide a more defined legibility.

Colour scheme

The black and yellow colour scheme is higher contrast and therefore improves readability for the visually impaired. At the top of each page there is also an animation of contrasting angular shapes. Although this serves as an interesting aesthetic to a non-visually impaired visitor, it is also intended to provide confirmation to the visitor that a new page has loaded.

ARIA tags

Each element of the website has ARIA tags/labels. These are embedded labels not visible on the page but provide element descriptions to screen reader users. This enables a descriptive method of navigating a page. For instance header elements, menu elements and text elements each have their own descriptive label introducing the content.

Web app

The website has been encoded as a ‘Web App’. This means that once a page has been viewed it will remain loaded (remembered) in a web browser, enabling the website to be loaded faster and viewed without a Wi-Fi connection the next time it is visited. This is beneficial to those using mobile devices who want to view the website without internet. When viewing the website on a mobile device, there is also the option to install the website as an app to the device’s home screen. The different operating systems (IOS and Android) and browsers (Safari or Chrome) will have their own installation methods. This will usually be prompted by the device and browser when it recognizes that the website is a web app. Any update to the website will automatically update the app. The app makes it easier for the visually impaired to visit the website as it removes the need to search for it within a web browser.

Feedback and Contact Information

If you need information on this website in an alternative format as a reasonable adjustment, please contact us by form, email or phone. All of these details can be found on the Contact page.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

Reporting accessibility problems with the website

We are committed to improving the accessibility of the website and encourage anyone who finds a problem to contact us. We’ll try to look into it for you as quickly as possible. Some problems will be easier to resolve than others and some will take a little more time – we will keep you updated.