Accessibility
Contents
- Introduction
- How to get the most accessible browsing experience
- If you need extra help
- Let us know if you are having difficulties
1. Introduction
We are committed to ensuring that our website and online resources are accessible to everyone, no matter what their ability.
Our website aims to conform to these web and accessibility standards and guidelines:
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines, criteria levels A and AA
- XHTML 1.0 and HTML 5
- CSS 2.1 and CSS 3.0
Read our website accessibility policy:
You may need to download additional plug-ins to open this file.
2. How to get the most accessible browsing experience
Changing colours
We have mainly used colours that make the webpages easy to read. You can, however, change the website's background colour and the colour of body text in your browser or operating system. For instructions please visit the BBC's 'My Web My Way' pages on How to change text and background colours.
Colour contrast
We try to ensure that the colours used on our website meet the minimum contrast requirements in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
The contrast ratio for normal text is 7:1 and for larger text 4.5:1 in the WCAG AAA success criteria.
On our website colour is never used as the only visual means of conveying information or indicating an action.
You may also wish to view our Browser compatibility page.
Downloading documents
PDF and Word documents are used across the website to complement content when needed.
The majority of our PDF documents have accessible structures with bookmarks, page tagging, and image alternative text. If you find a PDF document on this website that is not accessible and you need it in an accessible format, please email webmaster@bbsrc.ac.uk.
To view PDF documents, you may need to install additional software:
To view Word documents, you may need to install additional software:
Where document downloads are available on our website, the link text will indicate what type of file it is as well as the file size. Link text displays in this format: "Document title (File type file size)", for example "Accessibility policy (PDF 259KB)". Documents open in a new window.
Images
All images on this website are accompanied by brief alternative text which describes the image or its function. The alternative text (ALT text) is generally only visible when the browser's automatic image loading feature is turned off.
Images that are used for design or layout purposes do not have descriptions.
Image galleries
Our image galleries use JavaScript. If you do not have JavaScript or if you have JavaScript turned off you can still view our images. If you use a keyboard for navigation, please ensure JavaScript is turned off before browsing the image gallery.
Links
We try to name all links clearly and descriptively so that they are comprehensible when read or listed out of context.
- Links to pages within our website open in the window that you are using
- Links to documents open in a new window. Link text includes the file type and file size, for example "Accessibility policy (PDF 259KB)"
- Links to other websites and documents open in a new window. External links are marked with the following icon:
Link title text states "(opens in a new window)"
Mobile devices
Over recent years we have seen an increase in the number of users visiting our website from mobile devices. Our website has a responsive layout which optimises viewing across a range of devices from desktop computer monitors to tablets and mobile phones. Webpage content scales according to device to provide easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling.
Navigate without a mouse
To navigate through links on an individual web page you can use the 'Tab' key on a keyboard. To go to a specific part of the website without using a mouse you can use access keys.
How to use access keys
Our website supports the following access keys:
- s = Skip navigation
- 0 = Accessibility page
- 1 = Home page
- 2 = News and events
- 3 = Site map
- 4 = Search
- 5 = Privacy policy
- 6 = Help index
- 7 = Contact us
- 8 = Terms of use
To activate access keys you need to use them in combination with other keys depending on your web browser and operating system. See below for instructions for common browsers and operating systems:
Firefox 2+
- Windows and Linux: Alt + SHIFT + Access Key
- Mac: Control + Access Key; in Firefox 14.0.1 and higher: Control + Option +Access Key
Google Chrome 2+
- Windows and Linux: Alt + Access Key
- Mac: Control + Option + Access Key
Internet Explorer 6 and 7
- Windows: Alt + Access Key + Enter
Internet Explorer 8+
- Windows: Alt + Access Key
Opera
- Windows and Mac: SHIFT + ESC first, then Access Key
Safari 3
- Windows: Alt + Access Key
- Mac: Control + Access Key
Safari 4+
- Windows: Alt + Access Key
- Mac: Control + Option + Access Key
Using access keys with screen readers
Users with recent versions of screen readers can navigate using the following keystrokes:
- Insert + F6 for a list of all headings
- H to move forwards through the headings
- Shift + H to move backwards through the headings
- 1 to go to the next level 1 heading (or a number between 1 and 6 to navigate to the next heading on this level)
- Shift + 1 to go to the previous level 1 heading (or a number between 1 and 6 to navigate to the previous heading on this level)
Older versions of our website
Our website is archived in its entirety by The National Archives. Previous versions are available via http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/http:/www.bbsrc.ac.uk/.
Printing pages
Use your browser's print function to print our website content. The pages have been set up to print without the page navigation elements.
Skip to content
To make it easier and faster to get to the page content we have added a link that lets you skip past the navigation and land on the beginning of the content on the page.
The 'Skip to content' link appears when tabbing onto our website with a keyboard, or when viewing a list of webpage links via a screen reader.
Text size
You can customise text size through your browser settings.
In Microsoft Internet Explorer:
- choose "View" then "Text Size" (press the Alt key to temporarily display menu options if using Internet Explorer 8 or above) and select the size you require
- press Ctrl and + to increase the zoom, or Ctrl and - to decrease it
- if you have a mouse or other pointing device with a scroll-wheel, hold down the Ctrl key and move the wheel away from you to increase zoom, or move it towards you to decrease it
In Firefox:
- press the Alt key to temporarily display menu options
- choose "View", then "Zoom" and select "Zoom Text Only"
- press Ctrl and + to increase the zoom, or Ctrl and - to decrease it
- if you have a mouse or other pointing device with a scroll-wheel, hold down the Ctrl key and move the wheel away from you to increase zoom, or move it towards you to decrease it
In Chrome:
- choose the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar, select "Settings", click "Show advanced settings", in the "Web Content" section, use "Font size" drop-down menu to make adjustments
- press Ctrl and + to increase the zoom, or Ctrl and - to decrease it
- if you have a mouse or other pointing device with a scroll-wheel, hold down the Ctrl key and move the wheel away from you to increase zoom, or move it towards you to decrease it
In Safari:
- press the Alt key to temporarily display menu options
- choose "View" and select "Zoom Text Only"
- press Ctrl and + to increase the zoom, or Ctrl and - to decrease it
- if you have a mouse or other pointing device with a scroll-wheel, hold down the Ctrl key and move the wheel away from you to increase zoom, or move it towards you to decrease it
In Opera:
- press the Alt key to temporarily display menu options
- choose "Page" then "Zoom" and then a percentage
Further information on increasing the text size can be found on the BBC's 'My Web My Way' website: How to make your text larger.
Videos
Our videos are hosted on YouTube and embedded in pages on this website.
The video player uses JavaScript to pull in videos from YouTube. If you do not have JavaScript or if you have JavaScript turned off you will not be able to watch our videos. However, we provide video transcripts which are linked to directly below the YouTube video player. If a video transcript is missing please contact us webmaster@bbsrc.ac.uk.
You may also wish to view our Video help.
Visual design
We use cascading style sheets (CSS) for the visual layout of our website. If your browser or browsing device does not support CSS, or if you turn CSS off in your browser, you should still be able to read the content of each page.
3. If you need extra help
For more information and a comprehensible guide explaining the many ways you can change your browser, computer, keyboard and mouse settings to make the web more accessible to you, please visit the AbilityNet website.
4. Let us know if you are having difficulties
Whilst we have tried to ensure this website is accessible, you may encounter some limitations. Some content may be technical or scientific in nature and may require further understanding.
If you have any difficulty viewing the content or are experiencing problems accessing areas of our website, please email webmaster@bbsrc.ac.uk.
For advice on what to include in your email, read guidance from the Web Accessibility Initiative, W3C: Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Websites.
We will make every effort to resolve any issues.
Last updated: December 2015