Accessibility and usability

At ITIA we believe that it is important to make our website accessible to all potential users. With this in mind we have worked hard to design the website for people with all disabilities and impairments, and for people on all internet devices and all browsers.

Topics covered on this page:

Images

We have provided alternative text to images, so that visually impaired users and people using text-only browsers do not miss out on information which images on the site provide. Purely decorative images are given null attributes - visually impaired users who are surfing the internet using screen readers will therefore not have to hear for instance 'bullet point image' read out repetitively.

Site navigation and javascript

This site uses plain text links for its navigation menu, and its appearance is controlled by cascading style sheets (css). In browsers which do not comply with web standards or where css is turned off, the menu appears in list form, with simple text links. There is also a site map page with all the top level pages listed.

In modern browsers all plain text links on the site are coloured terracotta; text which is linked becomes underlined when the mouse hovers over it as well as turning bright orange, as an extra visual clue to its link status for the benefit of users with various forms of colour blindness. In older browsers which do not support cascading style sheets links are rendered in the default format for the browser, usually blue and underlined.

Links

All links on this site open in the same window, so your browser's 'back' button will always work.

We have checked all links on this site at the time of website publication, and all links are accurate and in working order. In addition links to external sites will be periodically checked. If you find a broken link however, please email divinity@st-and.ac.uk with details of the link text and the page on which it is located and we will fix it as soon as possible.

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Access keys

These are key combinations (alt + one other) that can be used to navigate quickly through the site without the use of a mouse, and are provided for the top level pages of the site:

To use the access keys, Windows users should hold down the ALT key and press the access key (the letter shown above). On a Mac, use the CTRL key plus the access key. Internet Explorer users may also need to hit the 'enter' key to activate a link.

Document structure

We have designed the site with the aim of achieving maximum clarity and consistency through the site, so that recurring elements such as navigation are in the same place on the screen throughout the site to make it easy and quick to find your way around the site, with text links at the foot of longer pages as well as 'return to top' links to reduce the amount you need to scroll.

The underlying code of each page has a linear structure and HTML headings have been used so that non-visual browsers (screen readers) can read each page in a logical sequence. Neither tables nor frames are used for layout purposes.

Every page begins with page title and the main navigation menu. The content follows. We have provided 'Skip navigation' links so that users with screen readers and those with browsers which do not comply with web standards can avoid having navigation links read out (or scrolling down to the main content, in the latter case) at the start of every new page.

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Text size

All text on this site is resizable, including in Internet Explorer browsers. To make text bigger, use the browser's font-size tool, which is usually located under the View menu at the top of your screen.

Screen size

The site has been designed to be easy to use regardless of your screen size. The text flows to the width of your screen, so you are not forced to scroll horizontally to read text if you have a small screen size, and to allow you to enjoy the full width of your screen if you have a larger computer, which also means less vertical scrolling for you.

Browser compatibility

This website uses cascading style sheets (css) for layout. A less complex style sheet is automatically provided for browsers which do not fully support css. For users with these browsers, some decorative elements of the site, such as the background images at the top and bottom of the page, will not be visible. People with browsers which have no support for css at all will be viewing the unstyled version of this website, so for instance all headings and text will be rendered in the default colour and font-type for the browser being used. However users with these older browsers have full access to all the site's content, and instructions are given to explain how the user can upgrade to a web standards browser which will increase ease and enjoyment of exploring the internet in general.

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Printing pages from the website

A style sheet specifically for use by your printer is automatically used when you print a page from the File menu at the top of your browser. Elements which are unnecessary for print, such as repeated navigation sections and decorative background images, are omitted to save your printer ink and paper. The font is also changed to a serif font which is widely considered more readable on paper but less so on screen, where we have provided sans-serif fonts.

Still improving...

We hope that the steps we have taken make the site accessible to as many users as possible but we recognise the need to continue to improve in this area. If you have any comments or suggestions you would like to make regarding the website, please email divinity@st-and.ac.uk.

 

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