The Environmental Research Group is working towards providing websites which are for everyone. This website has been designed to be accessible for the widest possible audience regardless of their ability. This includes making access as easy as possible for people with disabilities who may have special needs.
Choose from the following:
- How the website caters for people with a disability
- How to use the keyboard to navigate the website
- How to use access keys on the website
- How to change font size on your browser
- How the website complies with web accessibility standards
- How the website complies with the Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 (DDA)
- How the website is built to work on all browsers
How the website caters for people with a disability
People with disabilities, such as a visual impairment, may use assistive technologies to use the Internet. Assistive technologies are products used by people with disabilities to help accomplish tasks that they cannot do easily otherwise.
Assistive technology comes in many different forms, some of these include:
- text browsers (e.g. Lynx)
- screen readers
- speech synthesis (speech output)
- alternative keyboards or switches
- Braille
- screen magnifiers
- sound notification
- speech recognition
- voice browsers
This website has been built so that people using the technologies listed above can access and use the information available.
How to use the keyboard to navigate the website
Keyboard operation is required for users who are unable to use the mouse. For example, users with limited hand use may not have the fine motor control required to position the mouse pointer accurately on objects displayed on the screen. Blind users cannot position the mouse pointer because they can't see the screen.
The keyboard provides a precise, discrete method of navigating and selecting. Mobility impaired users using the keyboard can precisely navigate and select using the keyboard or assistive technology that emulates the keyboard.
- Tab Index - the website has a tab index coded into each page to allow a sensible order for the keyboard navigation. This starts in the main content section and then moves through the navigation areas in the tab order.
- Tab Key - use the 'Tab' key to move forward through the tab index on the page. To move backward hold 'Shift' and press the 'Tab' key. To activate a link when selected press the 'Enter' key.
- Arrow / Cursor keys - for using radio buttons on a web page, select the first one with the tab key and then use the cursor / arrow up and down keys to move through the available radio buttons. To activate a link when selected press the 'Enter' key.
- Space Bar - for using checkboxes on a web page, select the required checkboxes with the tab key and then use the 'space bar' to tick them. To activate a link when selected press the 'Enter' key.
- Enter / Return key - To activate a link when selected press the 'Enter' or 'Return' key.
How to use access keys on the website
We have provided a series of keyboard shortcuts intended to help users who have difficulty in using pointing devices such as a mouse. This web site uses the UK Government access key system and the following information summarises each of the keyboard shortcut commands available to you.
Depending on your browser type use one of the following:
With Windows-based systems, in general, press the "Alt" key and the relevant access key:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 or later » press "Alt" and the relevant number / letter, then press the "Enter" key
- Mozilla Firefox version 2 or later » press "Alt" + "Shift" and the relevant number / letter at the same time
- Netscape version 8.0 or later » press "Alt" and the relevant number / letter at the same time
- Opera 8.0 or later » hold down the Shift key and press Escape, release both keys, then press the number of the accesskey
With Macintosh-based systems, if you are using Safari, Camino or Mozilla Firefox press the "Crtl"
key and the relevant access key.
| Access keys used on the London Air Quality Network website | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alt + 1 | Home page | Links to the Home page |
| Alt + 2 | Bulletin Maps | Links to the Bulletin Maps page |
| Alt + 3 | Monitoring Sites | Links to the Monitoring Sites page |
| Alt + 4 | Statistics Maps | Links to the Statistics Maps page |
| Alt + 5 | Pollution Episodes | Links to the Pollution Episodes page |
| Alt + 6 | Local Boroughs | Links to the Local Boroughs page |
| Alt + 7 | Pollution Guide | Links to the Pollution Guide page |
| Alt + 8 | Tools | Links to the Tools page |
| Alt + 9 | Reports | Links to the Reports page |
| Alt + 0 | Downloads | Links to the Downloads page |
| Alt + N | News | Links to the News page |
| Alt + A | Accessibility | (This page) |
| Alt + C | Contact us | Links to the Contact Us page |
| Alt + H | Help | Links to the Help page |
| Alt + S | Site Map | Links to the Site Map page |
How to change font size on your browser
If the text is too small to read you need to change your text size.
- Internet Explorer 7 & 8 +
select 'Text Size' from the Page menu and select the text size you want to use (default is medium) - Firefox 2.0 +
select 'Text Size' from the View menu and select either 'increase' or 'decrease' (reset with 'normal') - Safari 4.0 +
select 'Zoom Text Only' from the View menu and select either 'Zoom In' or 'Zoom Out'
Look for similar functions in other browsers.
How the website complies with web accessibility standards
All of these pages have been validated for level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. As a result the pages will comply with the Disability Discrimination Act which ensures that websites are accessible to blind and disabled users.
This website conforms to the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) level AA (double A). For a full list of the checkpoints that we have addressed to reach this standard and make our web content accessible to people with disabilities,
please see the guidelines area of the WAI website.
If you find any pages that do not comply with the standards listed here please contact
the ERG webteam.
How the website complies with the Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 (DDA)
The Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 (DDA) effectively places responsibility upon employers and suppliers of goods and services to provide reasonable adjustment and, more importantly, to remove any barriers that could result in discrimination.
Since 1999 the DDA has covered public facing websites and internal systems even giving examples in its Code of Practice such as: 'An airline company provides a flight reservation and booking service to the public on its website. This is a provision of a service and is subject to the Act'.
As this website has been developed with AA accessible code it effectively complies to the Disability Discrimination Act.
How the website is built to work on all browsers
This website is built using code compliant with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards for XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0.
The pages display correctly with currently available Internet browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.
The use of standard XHTML and CSS 2.0 code means that future versions of browsers will also display them correctly.
XHTML stands for eXtensible Hyper Text Markup Language which is the language or coding used to write web pages. It contains information about the pages structure, appearance and contents.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) - CSS is a simple mechanism for adding style, for example fonts, colours and layout to web documents.
How to print pages from this website
The website has a specific CSS 2.0
stylesheet for printing. This means when you choose File - Print/Print Preview
from your browsers menu the layout of the webpage will change to suit a printer.
This will remove most of the images, background colours, menus and unecessary clutter
from the screen so that the most important text areas of the page can be printed
clearly. Check that the scale menu is set to Shrink to Fit
so that none of the text is clipped by the page margins when printing.
If you wish to have an exact print of the website as it is displayed on screen please press the PrtScn button on the keyboard. This creates a screenshot of the website and places it in the computers clipboard memory. Then paste this into a program like MS Paint or MS Word using Ctrl & V on the keyboard.
How to turn on Javascript in your browser
Many web pages need you to switch on (or 'enable')
Javascript. If you 'enable' Javascript in your browser, web designers can use additional
tricks to resize the page or add extra functionality. For example drop down menus,
buttons to make navigating websites easier and changing the cursor when you roll
over an icon are all tricks done by Javascript.
Windows
- Internet Explorer
- Go to the Tools menu in IE and choose Internet Options.
- Next click the Security tab.
- Make sure the Internet Zone is highlighted and press the Custom Level button to open the security options.
- Look for the entry near the bottom of the list which says Scripting, then Active Scripting and make sure it is enabled.
- Press OK to close the panels. Now reload the page which needs Javascript.
Mac
- Safari
- Go to the Safari menu or Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Click the Security tab.
- You can check or uncheck Javascript here (Java settings are not for Javascript).
- Close the panel. Now reload the page which needs Javascript.
Firefox (Windows/Mac)
- Firefox users should go to the Tools menu and select Options.
- Next click Content.
- Check Enable Javascript (Java settings are not for Javascript) in the main panel, for more settings press Advanced.
- Press OK to close the panel. Now reload the page which needs Javascript.
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