Dacorum Council is working towards 'AAA' compliance with
the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
If you have any concerns about how we
are enabling accessibility on this web-site please contact
Webmaster@dacorum.gov.uk
We continually test our site for accessibility
and have made some exceptions to the
accessibility guidelines.
Here are some of the features we support
to make our website more accessible for everyone:
Changing
Text Size
Many people find the text on the screen
difficult to read, for example if you are working at a higher
screen resolution or using a laptop with a smaller screen you may
find the text too small to read easily. Also if you have a vision
impairment you may also want to increase the size of the text to
make it easier to read.
Internet Explorer
If you are using Internet Explorer you can
change the size of the text in your browser by selecting the
View menu, then selecting Text
Size and the size you require.
Firefox
If you are using Firefox you can change the
size of the text in your browser by selecting the
View menu, then selecting
Increase or Decrease to change
the text size. Alternatively you can press ' Ctrl
' and ' + ' to increase the text size, '
Ctrl ' and ' - ' to decrease the
text size. ' Ctrl ' and ' 0 '
returns you to the default size.
Opera
You can easily increase or decrease the size of
both text and graphics using the ' + ' and '
- ' keys on the numeric keypad. Each press will
increase or decrease the size by 10%.
Safari
To change text size in the safari Click on the
' View ' menu with the mouse. Then click on '
Make Text Bigger' or 'Make Text
Smaller' to change the font size.
You can also use the keyboard shortcuts:
Increase or decrease the text size with ' Apple '
and ' + ' (plus) and ' Apple '
and ' - ' (minus).
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Changing Colours
Some people find certain text and background
colour combinations difficult to read, while others prefer to
always have a specific colour such as white text on a black
background. In either case it is easy to set your own colours.
Internet Explorer
Select the ' Tools ' menu with
the mouse or by pressing '
Alt'+'T ' . Then select the '
Internet Options ' option with the mouse
or by pressing ' O
'. and select the ' Accessibility ' button
with the mouse or by pressing '
Alt'+'E.
When the Accessibility is displayed check the '
Ignore colours specified on web page ' checkbox
with the mouse or by pressing '
Alt'+'C ' Save your changes by clicking
the ' OK ' button with the mouse or by pressing ' Enter ', which
will take you back you to the ' Internet
Options ' window.
The web site will now be using the same
colour scheme as on your computer.
If you still need to change the text or
background colours on the web page take the following steps:
- With the ' Internet Options ' box still open
click on the ' Colors ' button or press ' Alt' + 'O '.
- The default setting is to have the ' Use Windows
colors ' option selected, to use your own colours click
the box to remove the tick with the mouse or press ' Alt' + 'W ' .
- Select either the ' Text ' button with the
mouse (the ' Use Windows colors ' option must not
be selected for this to work), or by
pressing ' Alt' + 'T ' , or the '
Background ' button with the mouse, or by pressing
' Alt' + 'B ' .
- Select the colour of your choice with the mouse or by using the arrow keys.
- Select the ' OK ' button twice with the mouse
or by pressing ' Enter '
twice.
- Now press ' OK ' or
press ' Enter ' to return to Internet
Explorer.
Firefox
If you are using Firefox you can change text
and background colours in the following way. Click the '
Tools ' menu or press '
Alt' + 'T ' then click ' Options
' or press ' O ' to
display the ' Options ' window. Click the '
Fonts and Colors ' button or press ' F ' to display the '
Fonts and Colors ' window. Then
to set Firefox to use your Windows colour
scheme click on the ' Use system colors '
checkbox, or ' Tab ' to
the checkbox and press the ' Spacebar ' to select
it.
Alternatively to set text and background
colours just for Firefox:
- Make sure the ' Use system colors ' checkbox
is unchecked by clicking on it or '
Tab ' to the checkbox and press the '
Spacebar ' to deselect it.
- For your text colour, click the colour swatch next to the '
Text': heading and click on the colour you want to
use, or press ' Alt' + 'T
' to jump to the text colour palette and use the cursor keys to
browse the list of colours and then press ' Enter
' to chose the highlighted colour.
- For your background colour, click the colour swatch next to the
' Background: ' heading and click on the colour
you want to use, or press '
Alt ' + ' B ' to jump to the
background colour palette and use the cursor keys to browse the
list of colours and then press ' Enter ' to choose
the highlighted colour.
- Next click on ' Always use my: Colors '
checkbox, or press ' Tab '
until the checkbox is highlighted and then press the '
Spacebar ' .
- Click ' OK ' or press
' Enter ' to return to the options dialog
box.
- Click the ' OK ' button, or press ' Tab ' until the '
OK ' button is selected and press '
Enter ' , to return to Firefox.
- Click on the ' Reload current page ' button on
the Navigation toolbar or press '
Ctrl ' + ' R ' to reload the page
with your colour settings.
Opera
As with other browsers you can choose you own
colours in Opera.
- Open the ' File ' menu with the mouse
or by pressing ' Alt ' + '
F ' .
- Select the ' Preferences ' option with the
mouse or by pressing ' R '
.
- Select ' Fonts and Colours ' from the list
with the mouse or by using the down arrow
key.
- Select the type of text you want to change for example '
Normal ' from the list by clicking on it with the
mouse or by pressing ' Tab
' and using the up and down arrow keys.
- Select the ' Choose ' button with the mouse by
pressing ' Tab ' and ' Enter '
or click on it.
- Click in the ' Colour ' dropdown box, or press
' Alt ' + ' C ' to select it.
Choose a colour from the list using the mouse, or with the up and down arrow keys. When you have
chosen your text colour, click ' OK ' or press ' Enter ' to return to the
'Preferences dialog box'.
- Click in the ' background colour ' box,
or press ' Tab ' until it
is highlighted and press ' Enter ' to display the
'colour picker box'.
- Use the mouse, or the arrow keys, to
choose your background colour. Click on it, or press ' Enter ' when the colour you
want is selected, to return to the ' Preferences '
dialog box .
- Select ' Page Style ' from the list on the
left by clicking on it or press '
Tab' until the left pane is highlighted and then
use the down arrow key.
- Uncheck the 'Page style sheet ' checkboxes
under both the ' Author mode ' and ' User
mode ' headings either by clicking on the checkboxes
or by pressing ' Alt ' + '
P ' and ' Alt '+ '
G ' respectively .
- Uncheck the 'Page fonts and colors '
checkboxes under both the ' Author mode ' and '
User mode ' headings either by clicking on the
checkboxes or by pressing ' Alt ' + '
F ' and ' Alt ' + '
N ' respectively .
- Select the ' My fonts and colours ' checkboxes
under both the ' Author mode ' and ' User
mode ' headings either by clicking on the checkboxes
or by pressing ' Alt '+ '
C ' and ' Alt ' + '
O ' respectively.
- Either click the check box next to ' My fonts and
colours', or press the '
Tab ' key until the checkbox is selected and press
the ' Spacebar ' to check it.
- Click the ' OK ' button with the mouse
or press ' Enter ' to
return to Opera.
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Help With
Reading Text
Browsealoud
A considerable section of the population has
difficulty reading printed or on-screen text. Browsealoud is a
small program that works with your browser to "read" out the
content of the page. This means if you download and install
Browsealoud you can hear the words rather than having to read
them.
Browsealoud software is free to download and
free for you to use. It is a Windows Browser plug-in designed for
use with Internet Explorer 4 upwards or Netscape Navigator.
You may find this helpful if:
- You have problems reading
- English is not your first language
- You have Dyslexia
- Your sight is mildly impaired
Click the logo to the right to download the
BrowseAloud software.
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Assistive technology
People who have visual impairments may be
interested in the following assistive technology:
- Screen enlargers (or screen magnifiers) work
like a magnifying glass. They enlarge a portion of the screen as
the user moves the focus—increasing legibility for some users. Some
screen enlargers allow a user to zoom in and out on a particular
area of the screen.
- Screen readers are software programs that
present graphics and text as speech. A screen reader is used to
verbalize, or "speak," everything on the screen including names and
descriptions of control buttons, menus, text, and punctuation.
- Speech recognition Speech recognition systems,
also called voice recognition programs, allow people to give
commands and enter data using their voices rather than a mouse or
keyboard.
- Speech synthesizers Speech synthesizers (often
referred to as text-to-speech (TTS) systems) receive information
going to the screen in the form of letters, numbers, and
punctuation marks, and then "speak" it out loud. Using speech
synthesizers allows blind users to review their input as they
type.
- Refreshable braille displays Refreshable
braille displays provide tactile output of information represented
on the computer screen. The user reads the Braille letters with his
or her fingers, and then, after a line is read, refreshes the
display to read the next line.
- Braille embossers Braille embossers transfer
computer generated text into embossed Braille output. Braille
translation programs convert text scanned in or generated.
- Talking word processors Talking word
processors are software programs that use speech synthesizers to
provide auditory feedback of what is typed.
- Large-print word processors Large-print word
processors allow the user to view everything in large text without
added screen enlargement.
- To find out more about these technologies and further
information, please visit the website of the Royal National Institute for the
Blind.
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