Our Commitment to Accessibility

A number of accessibility features have been implemented across our website to make the website more accessible to people with visual, motor or cognitive disabilities. We are continually evolving and assessing the accessibility standards according to (these standards) and make the appropriate changes where feasible. Below are some enhancements to our website that we consider beneficial to our users:

Navigation

  • A "Skip navigation" link has been provided at the top of each page to enable users with screen readers to go directly to important content on the page more conveniently. It is hidden from regular viewers but can be seen with styles turned off or by screen readers.
  • A text-only site map provides links to all the main areas and sub-areas of the site in a more accessible format. The sitemap is located on the bottom of the page or in the skiplink for screen readers.
  • All navigation will still function without javascript. The javascript only enhances the experience for users with javascript turned on.

Links

  • All links are text-based. If an image is used for any link, techniques are used to keep the text within the code so they are still text-friendly for screen readers, text-based browsers and for those who browser with styles off (this included consoles that cannot render cascading style sheets).
  • All link rollovers are high-contrast so they are easily distinguished from regular text and headlines that are not clickable.
  • Link content text is contextual when possible (eg. Instead of ‘more’, the link may read ‘more business news’) to make navigation easier for screen readers.

Images

  • A text description has been added to each image within <alt> and/or <title> tags. This will assist screen readers and users who browse the internet with images off.

Forms

All forms are built with accessibility in mind, including:

  • Use of the label tag. The label specifically associates a piece of text with a form field which benefits screen readers. Also, if text within a label is clicked, the associated form field is brought into focus which increases general usability.
  • Tab indexing. This allows navigation of a form with the keyboard by tabbing through in a logical, assigned order.
  • Form Validation. If a form is submitted incorrectly, the error message returned informs the user of missing information clearly and logically.

Fonts

All fonts on the site use relative font sizing rather than fixed font sizing. Some users may find increasing the text size within their browser makes reading pages easier.

To change the text size:

  • In Internet Explorer, click the View menu, then select Text Size and then choose larger or largest (the default is medium).
  • Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and scroll the mouse wheel (if you have one).
  • In Internet Explorer 7, you can also use the Page Zoom feature: click Tools then Zoom. You can then increase or decrease the page's zoom level. Zoom differs from text resize in that it changes the size of all content, not just text.
  • In Firefox, click the View menu, then select Text Size and then choose the whether you would like to increase the size (increase) or decrease the size (decrease).
  • Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and at the same time, push the - or + key.
  • Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and scroll the mouse wheel (if you have one).
  • In Opera, click the View menu, select Zoom and then choose your desired zoom level.
  • Alternatively, press Plus (hold Shift and press the = key) to increase the page zoom, or press the minus key (-) to reduce the page zoom.
  • Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and scroll the mouse wheel (if you have one).
  • In Safari, click the View menu then click Make Text Bigger or Make Text Smaller.
  • In Netscape, click the View menu, then select Text Zoom and then choose the size you would like (the default is 100%).
  • Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and at the same time, push the - or = key.
  • There are A+ and A- icons on each story page to make it easier to adjust font size for those users who cannot do it through their browser.

Printable Pages

All pages are optimised for printing offline. This will aid those who prefer to read articles offline and / or cannot read them on a computer monitor.

Standards Compliance

  • All code is validated by http://validator.w3.org/ according to relevant doctypes when launched to increase reliable rendering across all browsers, to enable faster downloads and for easier navigation for screen readers.
  • All pages on this site use structured semantic markup. Separation of structure (HTML), presentation (CSS) and behaviour (javascript) is practiced where possible.

Accessibility Compliance

Our Network attempts to meet a WCAG 1.0 "Double-A" conformance level for accessibility.. Full information and a conformance level checklist can be found on the W3C website:

All of these guidelines must be balanced with our business objectives and are followed whenever feasibly possible. We are continually testing and modifying our website for accessibility but there may be some legacy pages and/or pages developed by third-parties that are not fully compliant with our accessibility standards.

Tools on the Web

Some tools online make it easier for people with disabilities to view and navigate web content. These include: