Accessibility Statement

We strive to ensure that our website is accessible to all by complying with the recommendations of the relevant industry standards and existing UK government legislation. This page provides details of what we have done to ensure standards compliance, and also illustrates some of the accessibility features contained within this site.

Accessibility Level and Testing Procedures

This website is accessible to the standards laid down by the WAI. We strive to attain level AA of the WCAG 1.0 document. Although it is impossible for any automated test to fully validate a website, we have carried out all the recommended manual checks, including testing with screen readers and text-only browsers. We hope that you have no problems using this site, but should you do so, please contact us and we will rectify the problem immediately.

Accessibility Features

1.Navigation: if you navigate without the use of a mouse, please use your tab key as usual, or alternatively you may like to use our access keys. We provide "jump" links too.

2.Text Only Version: we provide an alternative text-only version of this website for those with slower internet connections and those who prefer to use the web this way. If you surf with images disabled we have tried to ensure that this site remains operable and as presentable as possible.

3.High Contrast Version: if you have difficulty reading dark text on a light background, please try the high contrast version of this site. This version features light text on a dark background.

4. Changing the font size. You are able to change the size of the font so the text is easier for you to read, the option to do this is on all pages. Note: This can also be done in your web browser.

The 2 most commonly used web browsers can be changed by following these instructions:

Internet Explorer
1. Click on the View menu
2. Select Text Size
3. Choose the size of text you would like

Firefox
1. Click on the View menu
2. Select Zoom
3. You can then zoom in or zoom out on the text to change the size

Other browsers
Refer to your browser’s help menu or see the external links section for help changing your settings in other web browsers.

Opening and downloading Adobe Acrobat documents

Where we have attached a PDF document, we provide a link to the Adobe Acrobat website so that you can download the free Adobe Reader needed to open a PDF. The current version of Acrobat Reader  has improved accessibility features and includes the facility to read the text out loud.

Please note that Adobe Acrobat documents can be converted back to plain text using Adobe's Web-based conversion service.

Standards Compliance

All the code used on this site is standards compliant. If you wish to do so, you may check both our html and css compliance by using the W3C html validation service, the css validation service from the same organisation, or any other validation service such as Validome.

Links to each individual page's html, css and automated accessibility test results are provided at the foot of every page.

Having problems accessing our site? Contact us

If you find that you cannot access any of our content, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it We will make every reasonable effort to either remove the barrier or provide the information in a format that you find acceptable.