Accessibility

Sections of this document:

Overall Accessibility Statement (immediately below this list)
Access Keys
Specific accessibility features on this site (various alternative viewing modes, Access Adobe and so on)
Resources for users of assistive software or requiring other support
Changing the settings on your browser (Internet Explorer and Netscape)

Overall Accessibility Statement

The site's layout takes into account users who are blind or visually impaired. It is compatible with popular screen reading software. If you have difficulties using a mouse, the site can be navigated using only a keyboard.

In technical language, all pages on this site should be valid to Extensible Hyper Text Mark-up Language (XHTML) 1.0 Strict and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This website conforms to the Guidelines for UK Government websites and supports the Worldwide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, Level A, to ensure a Web accessibility standard has been achieved and is maintained. In reaching this conclusion we have used automated testing where this is appropriate, as well as feedback from user testing by our Access Group.

EXCEPTION: This Accessibility Statement does not cover pages where the functionality relies on image delivery (for example, the mapping interfaces within our coastal assets, industrial estates and water quality databases). Neither does it necessarily apply to our services which are hosted by third parties (for example, parking fine payments, business directory, roadworks).

General Considerations

Havant Borough Council recognises its responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act and understands that goods and services must be offered on equal terms to all in the community. The Council sees the use of the internet as being a key means for disabled users to obtain information and be involved in their local community. Our plans for electronic service delivery are described in our Implementing E-Government Statement.

Accesskeys

We have implemented the UK Government access keys standard. Access keys are keyboard shortcuts which allow a user to navigate a web site without using a mouse or other pointing device. This can sometimes be quicker and may assist those with motor skill difficulties. We use the following access keys which are standardised across Government web sites:

1 - Home Page
2 - What's New
3 - Site Map
4 - Search
5 - not used
6 - Help
7 - Complaints
8 - Terms and Conditions
9 - Feedback Form
0 - Access key list (this page)
S - Skip menus (go straight to page content)

To use an access key:

For Microsoft Windows systems:
- If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4, then hold down the 'Alt' key and press the relevant letter.
- If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or 6, then hold down the 'Alt' key, press the relevant letter and then press the 'Enter' key
- If you are using Mozilla Firefox, or Netscape version 6 or later, then hold down the 'Alt' key and press the relevant letter.
For Macintosh based systems, hold down the 'Ctrl' key and press the relevant letter

Specific accessibility features on this web site

The following is a list of some of the actions we have already taken in order to improve accessibility of the Havant website:

Provision of downloadable screen magnification software designed by WorksUnit of Southampton
Let this web site read itself to you using the 'BrowseAloud' system >>
Use 'skip menu' feature to bypass the menu structure of a page and go straight to the content.
Use 'text only' mode, which makes our site accessible to all current browsers
Link to the Adobe Acrobat Access reader for PDF Adobe Acrobat files.
- Increase contrast between background and text for readability purposes;
- Change text colours;
- Change background colours.
Ensuring that online forms can be navigated in order by pressing 'Tab' in a keyboard.

Please let us know of any accessibility issues you encounter whilst using our web site by sending an email to webmaster@havant.gov.uk.

Resources for users of assistive software or requiring other support

We have designed our pages to be accessible but recognise that at the moment we may not have got everything right. If you have problems with accessing some of our pages try the 'text only' version which is designed to the highest accessibility standards.

For more information on assistive software, and hardware adjustments available, we recommend the website run by AbilityNet, a charity that brings the benefits of computer technology to adults and children with disabilities.

We are designing our site to the Worldwide Web Consortium's HTML4.01 Transitional specification.

We have checked the design of our site using the 'Bobby' checker. 'Bobby' is an automatic HTML checker which was created by CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) to help Web page authors identify and repair significant barriers to access by users with disabilities.

We are pleased to give you the ability to have this web site read itself to you. Follow the link to access the once-only download you will need to make this feature work on your computer. There are no security issues in using this software, which is free of charge to download (approximately 5 minutes at normal dial-up modem speed, less if you use broadband). Link to BrowseAloud >>

We are pleased to offer a free download of WorksView screen magnification software designed by WorksUnit of Southampton, UK. Full details of what this product can do, and a download link, are available through this link. We regret that currently this software only works with Internet Explorer browsers.

We have checked our page designs using the automated colour blindness checker at Vischeck's website.

We have used PDF (portable document format) to deliver some content on this website. We recognise that the use of PDF can cause problems for assistive software, and so we offer a link to the Access Adobe website where you can download for free a program which will convert PDF documents to HTML or plain text. We also offer users a direct link to Adobe's on-line converter which saves having to download the Access Adobe program; this allows you to enter the URL of a PDF document into an on-line form and just that document will be converted.

Changing the settings on your browser

There are many features built into modern web browsers which allow personal preferences to be set - for example the adjustment of colours and text size. These features can usually be found by asking for 'Help' in your browser program and entering the phrase 'accessibility'.

The BBC's 'My Web My Way' web site has full details on the ways different browsers can be adjusted to ensure that sites you read are more accessible. Changes applied through your browser will affect ALL websites that you subsequently view.

Link to the BBC 'My Web My Way' web site >>

Havant Borough Council, Civic Centre Road, Havant, Hampshire PO9 2AX