Accessibility

One of the aims of the RNIDS website is the application of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards relating to accessibility. This involves an improvement and evaluation cycle, which improves the accessibility of our sites for people with disabilities as far as technology and standards allow.

Accessibility standards

W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative develops strategies, guidelines and resources which improve web accessibility for users with special needs. The WIA’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) define a series of checkpoints (grouped by priority) which can be used to evaluate web content accessibility.

We believe that the RNIDS website satisfies all priority 1 and 2 checkpoints and the majority of priority 3 checkpoints.

More information about web accessibility and standards:

• World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

Access keys

Access keys are specially defined keyboard shortcuts which activate links or other web page elements, e.g. the search field. When a user uses an access key, the browser jumps to the related link or field without the need to use a mouse or similar device. W3C’s WAI recommends the use of access keys.

The follow access keys can be used on any of the pages of the RNIDS website:

• Access key 0 – Accessibility (this page)
• Access key 1 – Home page
• Access key 2 – Jump to the main content on the page
• Access key 3 – WHOIS lookup
• Access key 4 – Site map
• Access key 5 ‒ Search
• Access key - – Decrease text size
• Access key = ‒ Standard text size
• Access key + – Increase text size

How to use access keys

In the table below we list the key combinations for different browsers. Not all browsers support access keys and their use differs between versions and platforms. For example, newer versions of Internet Explorer require that you press Enter after pressing the Alt key.
 

Windows	Firefox, Mozilla	Hold down the Alt and Shift keys and press the number of the access key.
	Internet Explorer 5+	Hold down the Alt key, press the number of the access key, release both keys then press the Enter key.
	Internet Explorer 4	Hold down the Alt key and press the number of the access key.
	Google Chrome	Hold down the Alt key and press the number of the access key.
	Safari	Hold down the Alt key and press the number of the access key.
	Opera	Hold down the Shift key and press Escape, release both keys, then press the number of the access key.
	Netscape 7	Hold down the Alt key and press the number of the access key.
Mac	Firefox, Mozilla	Hold down the Ctrl key and press the number of the access key.
	Safari	Hold down the Alt + Ctrl keys and press the number of the access key.
	Google Chrome	Hold down the Alt + Ctrl keys and press the number of the access key.
	Opera	Hold down the Shift key and press Escape, release both keys, then press the number of the access key.
Linux	Firefox, Mozilla	Hold down the Alt and Shift keys and press the number of the access key.
	Google Chrome	Hold down the Alt and Shift keys and press the number of the access key.
	Konqueror	press and release Ctrl key, then press the number of the access key.
	Opera	Hold down the Shift key and press Escape, release both keys, then press the number of the access key.

 

Images

All images have defined ALT or TITLE attributes. This means that a brief description of the image will be shown instead of or over the image if required, e.g. if the loading of images is disabled or was unsuccessful.

Links

We endeavour to make link titles logical (“Web Accessibility Initiative” instead of “click here”). When possible, links also have a TITLE attribute which provides an additional description of the purpose of the link).

PDF files

A significant portion of our website content is provided in PDF file format. In order for you to view these files, it is necessary to install Adobe Acrobat Reader.