accessibility statement

We have tried to make this web site accessible to as many users as possible. This page describes some of the accessibility features of the site. Please feel free to contact us if you have any comments or queries about the site. See also our page on web accessibility for more information about accessibility issues.

access keys

Many browsers allow users to use "access keys" to navigate quickly around a web site. The following access keys have been set up for this site:

0: accessibility statement (this page)
1: home
2: skip navigation
9: contact us

Browsers activate access keys in various ways and some examples are described below:

Internet Explorer (Windows): Hold down the ALT key, press the access key number, release them, then press ENTER
Firefox (Windows): Hold down the Shift and Alt keys and press the access key number
Opera (Windows): Press the SHIFT and ESCAPE keys down together, release them, then quickly press the access key number
Netscape 7 (Windows): Hold down the ALT key and press the access key number
Safari (Mac): Hold down the Control key and press the access key number
Firefox (Mac): Hold down the Control key and press the access key number
Internet Explorer (Mac): Hold down the Control key and press the access key number

web content accessibility guidelines

This site achieves the highest level of conformance (AAA) against The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) produced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

re-size text

Font size has been specified using keywords (small, x-small etc), to enable users to re-size text simply in their browsers. Users can choose a text size that is comfortable for them. Here are some examples of how to do this in your browser:

Internet Explorer 7 (Windows): select Page...Text Size or Page...Zoom
Internet Explorer 6, 5 (Windows): select View...Text Size
Firefox (Windows): select View...Text Size
Opera (Windows): select View...Zoom
Netscape 7 (Windows): select View...Text Zoom
Safari (Mac): select View...Make Text Bigger/Smaller
Firefox (Mac): select View...Text Size...Increase/Decrease
Internet Explorer (Mac): select View...Text Zoom

liquid layout

A "liquid layout" has been used, so each page can expand or contract to fit the available width of your browser window. This should enable users to view each page without having to scroll horizontally.

printer-friendly

A print stylesheet has been used to control the appearance of pages when they are printed. The main navigation menu will not print out. Pages should print on A4 paper in portrait format (the common default setting).

scripts and applets

We have avoided the use of any scripts or applets throughout almost all the main pages of the site, because some users may have intentionally or even unknowingly disabled their operation. Some Javascript is used for navigation in the sample virtual tours but an alternative tour help page provides the same navigation for users who have disabled the running of scripts in their browsers. The default virtual tour is a Java applet, but alternative versions (QuickTime and a stand-alone .exe version) are available for users who do not have Java-enabled browsers.

standards compliance

The pages in this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional. CSS is used to control virtually all of the visual appearance of the pages. The XHTML and CSS have been validated using the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) validation services.

file sizes

File sizes have been kept extremely small so the pages should download very quickly. The total file size (HTML page plus images plus stylesheets) to be downloaded to display the home page is only 18kb, which should download in:

less than 1 second for users with broadband (512 kbps or faster)
3 seconds for users with 56.6 kbps modems