Accessibility

There are a number of steps that RSBC has taken to address accessibility needs for those with vision impairment and other disabilities. These include user testing by blind and partially sighted people.

Using the UserWay web tool, which can be found at the top left of each page of the website, can help with changing contrast, highlighting links and increasing text size and spacing, as well as providing other settings to enhance accessibility. You can find out more in the UserWay accessibility functionality information in the next section.

Our web pages and web content have been tested against the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and are AA compliant.

We are committed to continuing to make improvements to the accessibility of this website. Actions we will take will include:

  • Ensuring that we follow evolving accessibility best practice.
  • Undertaking regular audits.
  • Acting on feedback received by users.

Please note that this website has external links to third party sites which may have accessibility issues, over which we have no responsibility. Additionally, older content including videos, and older downloadable documents such as PDFs, may not be fully accessible.

 

UserWay accessibility functionality

Our website utilises the UserWay Accessibility Widget, a powerful tool designed to enhance the accessibility of web content for all users. This widget provides a range of features that allow users to customise their browsing experience to meet their individual needs.

The key features of the UserWay Accessibility Widget include:

Contrast options: The ability to toggle between different colour contrast settings to enhance readability.

Highlight links: These clearly distinguish links on the page by applying a highlight effect.

Increase text size: The size of the text can be adjusted for better readability without affecting the layout.

Adjust text spacing: Modify the spacing between text to improve readability, particularly beneficial for users with dyslexia.

Stop on-screen animations: Halt animations that may cause distractions or discomfort.

Hide images: Remove images to focus solely on text content, which can benefit users with visual impairments or cognitive distractions.

Dyslexia friendly mode: Enable a mode that enhances text readability for users with dyslexia by applying a specific font and layout.

Cursor customisation: Change the size and colour of the cursor to make it more visible.

Tooltips: Access additional information about page elements via tooltips.

Line height adjustment: Modify line height to increase space between lines of text.

Text alignment: Change the alignment of text to suit personal preferences.

Saturation adjustment: Reduce or increase colour saturation to minimize visual discomfort.

 

How to use the UserWay accessibility widget

To use the UserWay Accessibility Widget, simply click on the accessibility icon located on the top left hand corner of the website. From there, you can enable or disable features as needed to customise your browsing experience.

 

Layout

The site uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control all presentation and layout so that content is well structured and easily accessible via assistive devices.

 

Fonts

As well as the ability to increase the text size on the website by using the Accessibility widget at the top left hand side of the website, the font size can be increased or decreased in your browser by following these steps:

 

Microsoft Edge

To make a web page larger, select Settings and more then select Zoom in, Zoom out or Full screen.

You can also use the following keyboard shortcuts:

Ctrl + plus sign (+)                     Zoom in by 25%

Ctrl + minus sign (-)                   Zoom out by 25%

Ctrl + zero (0)                            Reset zoom level to default

Ctrl + Scroll wheel up                 Zoom in

Ctrl + Scroll wheel down            Zoom out

F11                                           Switch between full screen and exit full screen

 

Mozilla Firefox

Hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and press the plus (+) key. You’ll find that this will enlarge the text. To enlarge again, repeat the procedure. Keep repeating until the text is enlarged to your requirements. If you need to make the text smaller, press Ctrl on your keyboard and the minus ( – ) key.

 

Apple Safari

Hold down the Apple Key and press the (+) key. You’ll find that this will enlarge the text. To enlarge again, repeat the procedure. Keep repeating until the text is enlarged to your requirements.

If you need to make the text smaller, press the Apple Key on your keyboard and press the (-) key.

 

Google Chrome

Click the ‘Customise and Control’ spanner symbol in the top right hand corner (Alt + E).

Select ‘Settings’ (‘Preferences’ on Mac and Linux).

Click on ‘Under the Bonnet’ and customise your fonts and font size in the ‘Web Content’ section.

 

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Choose the drop down menu at the top of the window of the browser marked “view”.

A list of options will appear in the drop down menu – choose “text size”.

Next, another drop down menu should appear with options including “small”, “medium”, “large”, “largest”. Select “largest”.

 

Images

All non-aesthetic images used on the website (i.e. those used to represent a topic or a link) have accessible, descriptive alternative text.

 

Content

Content across the site has been written and formatted to make it as accessible as possible. This includes:

  • The use of semantic headings, which are descriptive and used to highlight sections of text.
  • Clear and easy to understand language.
  • Meaningful text used for all links.
  • No information is conveyed exclusively through the use of colour.

 

Technology used for testing

  • Voiceover and Safari.
  • Windows Magnifier and Microsoft Chrome.
  • JAWS and Microsoft Chrome.
  • NVDA and Brave.
  • Keyboard navigation only.

We will continue to test with new technologies to improve the overall accessibility performance of this website.

 

Navigation aids

The home page is accessible from every page on this website, and a sitemap xml is in place and accessible in the footer on each page.

 

Rich media content

We are committed to providing transcripts and/or subtitles for key pieces of new video content available on the website.

We use YouTube descriptions and captioning. These captions can be accessed by clicking the ‘CC’ button within the video player.

 

Document downloads

There are a number of PDF documents available for download across the site. You can find out more about how to configure the free Adobe Reader software to obtain greater access to PDF files by visiting the Adobe site.

 

Access keys

In order to avoid any conflict with personal access keys you may have set up on your computer, we have chosen not to install bespoke access keys on this site. Efforts have been made to ensure the site is as easy to navigate as possible.

Download Adobe Reader for free

Feedback

We have designed pages and chosen colours and contrast on this website to be as accessible as possible, within certain unavoidable constraints.

We will make continual improvements to the website, and so we welcome any suggestions or feedback that you may have. Please email connections@rsbc.org.uk with your comments.

 

Reporting issues

If you’re using adaptive technology and are having any challenges in accessing information or with functionality on the site, please email connections@rsbc.org.uk with details, including the problem you’ve encountered and the type of technology being used.

 

Further information

More information on how to make your browsing experience easier is available for the BBC’s “My Web My Way” website. This includes advice and help for those who may benefit from making changes to their browser, operating system or computer to be able to view the web in a more accessible way.