Accessibility

Deeside College recognises the importance of providing a website that is accessible to all user groups, including the disabled.

We have implemented the following accessibility features on this website to make it easier to use for people with disabilities. Standards compliance outline how we measure our site's accessibility. Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback regarding the accessibility of this site, or if you experience any difficulty using it. Select here to read our Disability Statement.

Accessibility features on this website

The following features improve navigation for screen reader users, keyboard navigation and users of text-only browsers.

Access keys

Access keys are keyboard shortcuts that replace the need to use the mouse for navigation in browsers that support them. In Internet Explorer on Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key. Then press Enter to activate the link. The following access keys are available throughout the website:

• 0: Jump to Accessibility Statement
• 1: Jump to Homepage
• 2: Jump to Text Only version of the site
• 3: Jump to Search
• 4: Jump to Welsh language version of the site

These access keys have been chosen to follow the UK Government website guidelines where applicable, in order to support the adoption of a useful standard. Wherever possible, they also avoid conflicting with commonly-used screen reader keyboard shortcuts.

Navigation shortcuts

Visually impaired users who use the keyboard to navigate will will notice that the tab order has been optimised for increased usability.

Images

All content images used in this site include descriptive alt attributes. Purely decorative graphics include empty alt attributes.

Font size

You may increase the font size of the text on pages via the link at the top of the page. Alternatively you can use your browser to change the font size of text:

• In Internet Explorer, select View, then Text Size, and then your preferred size.
• In Netscape select View, then Text Zoom, and then your preferred percentage size.
• In Mozilla Firefox select View, then Text Size, then either increase or decrease.

Tables

All tables have properly scoped header cells, to allow screen readers to render them intelligently. Where required, tables also have a caption and a summary.

Forms

All forms follow a logical tab sequence.

Standards compliance

• The pages on our website conform at a minimum to level A compliance as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and endorsed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The majority of pages on our website meet level AA and AAA requirements.
• All pages validate as XHTML 1 Transitional and use structured semantic markup. The CSS also validates.
• We strive to obey the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995 with respect to the provision of services online, as required by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/, http://www.drc-gb.org/

Questions or feedback

If you have any questions or feedback regarding the accessibility of this site, or if you experience any difficulty using it, please email: davisb@deeside.ac.uk or call 01244 831531 ext 4081.

USEFUL LINKS

• W3 accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.
• W3 accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.
• The RNIB's Web accessibility at a glance
• The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)
  http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/
• JAWS, a screen reader for Windows.
• Home Page Reader, a screen reader for Windows.
• Windows-Eyes, a screen reader for Windows.
• PwWebSpeak, a screen reader for Windows.
• Lynx, a free text-only web browser for blind users with refreshable Braille displays.