Accessibility
Our policy
Salford City Council recognises and values the provision of information on this website in a format which is accessible to all, regardless of ability or disability.
Accessibility recognition for this website:
- 'Website Accessibility Award' at the 2008 Good Communications Awards
- Accessibility in Focus winner, Charitable organisation.
To ensure that this happens, we have programmed our website following web standards and accessibility guidelines. The site is developed using valid XHTML and cascading style sheets (CSS). Our site content is separated from presentational elements, which makes it available to any visitors that use technologies such as a screen reader or text only browser.
We try to maintain WAI Level AA accessibility
The Government requires that all public sector websites - whether for central or local government - should meet the W3C's guidelines on accessibility to WAI Level AA standard.
We strive to achieve and maintain levels of accessibility that conform to the AA standard, but recognise that it is very hard for a large website to maintain such compliance. We choose not to shout about our compliance since it is difficult to be certain that 100% compliance is being maintained!
Through further development of our web services we strive to improve our compliance and aim to meet as many of the WAI Level AAA guidelines as are achievable.
What is an accessible website?
An accessible site is one that accommodates the full range of users. Designing for accessibility therefore means accepting that, for online information, there is:
- no standard information user, and,
- no standard device for browsing information
An accessible website does not exclude anybody due to:
- their abilities, or
- the method they choose to access the web
Accessible websites prioritise clear content, structure and ease of navigation over frilly aspects of design, however they also need not be visually unattractive, nor are they prevented from using the latest web technologies, provided that all information is still accessible to users.
Change text size
You may use your browser settings to change the text size for all the websites that you visit. The technique for doing this is slightly different depending on the browser that you use:
- Internet Explorer 7/8: Select the 'Page' menu, then one of the options under 'Zoom' or 'Text Size'. The default setting is 'Medium'
- Internet Explorer 6: Select the 'View' menu, and select one of the options under 'Text Size'
- Mozilla Firefox: Select the 'View' menu, then 'Text Size', then select Increase, Decrease or Normal
- Opera: Select the 'View' menu, then one of the 'Zoom' percentage options
- Netscape: Select the 'View' menu, then one of the 'Text Zoom' options
Other browsers may also have similar options available. Please consult the documentation provided with your browser if similar options to the ones above aren't available.
The web: access and inclusion for disabled people
Most of the leading websites around the world are failing to provide the most basic accessibility standards for people with disabilities. 97% of websites did not provide even minimum levels of accessibility, a survey in December 2006 found.
Accessibility agency Nomensa tested the leading websites in five different sectors across 20 countries. Only three websites, including the British Prime Minister's site, achieved the minimum standards. The report was commissioned by the United Nations as part of its International Day of Disabled Persons (3 December).
