Accessibility
What is an accessible site?
An accessible website is one that is built using 'universal design' principles. It can accommodate the broadest range of users.
The Bournemouth Council for Voluntary Service site incorporates the following accessibility features.
Please click on the following items to find out more :-
- Ways to make the text bigger
- How to move around the site without a mouse
- PDF's and how to read them
- Viewing a Word file without Word software
- Printing pages
- Changing font colours, text and backgrounds
Making the text bigger
To enlarge the text:
Using Internet Explorer:
go to the menu at the top of the browser;
select View > Text size >
(or press 'Alt' and then 'V');
select the size you require
(this can be done by pressing X and using the scroll arrows).
Using Netscape:
go to View > Text zoom >
select the size you require.
Moving around the site without a mouse
Use the Tab key to move between links.
OR
Access keys allow you to move around the main areas.
Press the ALT key (Windows)
or the Control key (Mac)
AND
click the appropriate number/letter key
then press "Enter / Return" key to activate the link.
The list of Access keys is as follows:
1 - Home2 - Projects
3 - Services and Resources
4 - Volunteering
5 - Training
6 - Information
9 - Networks/E-Forums
- Vol Sector Representation
- Local Vol Sector Events
- Vol Sector Job Vacancies
Q - Search Site
0 - Accessibility
Z - Disclaimer
Y - Sitemap
K - Useful Links
Access keys may not work at all, or may work differently, depending on the browser you are using.
PDFs
PDF stands for Portable Document File. It's a way of making downloadable documents available on the web. You need a plug-in called Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.
This can be downloaded for free from Adobe's website
Link: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/
readstep2.html
Adobe Acrobat documents can be converted to plain text documents. To do this use Adobe PDF Conversion by Simple Form.
This can be downloaded from the following link:
Link: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat
/access_simple_form.html
The latest version of Acrobat Reader (version 6) has a Read Out Loud facility. This can be found under the View menu.
Viewing a Word file without Word software
A free Word viewer is available from Microsoft at the Microsoft Download Center. Word, Excel and PowerPoint viewers can be found via the same link below.
Link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?
displaylang=en&categoryid=9
Printing
When you print a page from this site all colour and most images have been removed.This is to facilitate fast and economical printing.
Top of Page
Changing colours and font type
Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)
MSIE version 5.5
Select 'Tools' from the top pull-down menu options Select 'Internet Options'
To change Colours:
From the window which appears;
- select the 'Colors…' option;
- ‘Use windows colors’ must be deselected by clicking on the tick;
Now you can change the Text and Background selections by clicking on these boxes;
Click OK when you are happy with your selection.
To change Fonts:
Click on the 'Fonts…' button. This will allow you to change the style of the font
Any international character set can be selected. All fonts resident on the computer can be used.
To enable your changes
Click on the 'Accessibility' button
The ‘Accessibility…’ button allows you to accept or decline styling. If your desired colours and fonts are not yet showing in the web page;
check at least one box in the ‘Formatting’ section and then click OK.
You will immediately be able to see the change.
The three options available are;
ignore colours, font types and font sizes defined in the CSS.
You can also construct your own standard CSS.This will ensure that the font sizes and colours used are always legible and useful.
Different versions of MSIE work in different ways.
In MSIE4 this same selection process can be accessed by selecting;
'View' from the top pull-down menu options
and then selecting 'Internet Options'.
On Internet Explorer for the Mac;
- choose Internet Explorer Preferences
- then Web Content.
Netscape
- Select 'Edit' from the top pull-down menu options
- Select 'Preferences'
From this menu screen you can select the Colours option by
- clicking on the word
‘Use Windows colors’ must be deselected by
- clicking on the tick
Once this has been done, you can change the Text and Background selections by
- clicking on the boxes themselves
Selecting the ‘Fonts’ option (above ‘Colors’) will give you the chance to change the style of the font.
Once selected, any international character set can be selected.
Any font resident on the computer can be used
