Accessibility
We are committed to complying with the Disability Discrimination Act and have made significant improvements to our website in order to reduce the barriers experienced by people with disabilities. In accordance with central Government guidelines it is our policy to create pages to W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Priority 2 level (Double A). In future we aim to offer more online services and we are designing these to be level 3 (Triple A) compliant, although if we purchase off-the-shelf software this will be at least level 2 compliant.
We are aware, however, that occasionally we do make mistakes. If you find any of our pages inaccessible to you please use the Website Feedback Form to let us know (including details of the technology you are using) and we will make every reasonable effort to either remove the barrier or provide the information in a format that you find acceptable.
We are aware, however, that occasionally we do make mistakes. If you find any of our pages inaccessible to you please use the Website Feedback Form to let us know (including details of the technology you are using) and we will make every reasonable effort to either remove the barrier or provide the information in a format that you find acceptable.
BrowseAloud
Our website offers a link to BrowseAloud. This is a free tool that speech enables website content. It offers a practical website access service to people with reading difficulties and those who find it easier to listen to, rather than read the content of our website.
It assists in the navigations of our website for the following sections of the population:
- Those with low literacy and reading skills
- Those where English is not the first language
- Dyslexic people
- Those with mild visual impairment
Access Keys
If you have difficulty in using a mouse or similar devices, you can use keyboard shortcuts. We follow the Government access key system and information on how to use each of the keyboard shortcuts available is below.
0 - Access key details
1 - Home page
2 - What's new
3 - not in use
4 - Search
5 - Frequently asked questions
6 - Help
7 - not in use
8 - Website Disclaimer
9 - Contact us
2 - What's new
3 - not in use
4 - Search
5 - Frequently asked questions
6 - Help
7 - not in use
8 - Website Disclaimer
9 - Contact us
S - Skip navigation
Depending on your browser use one of the following methods to use access keys:
Depending on your browser use one of the following methods to use access keys:
- Internet Explorer 5+: Hold down the ALT key and select the number/letter of the access key, then press ENTER.
- Internet Explorer 4: Hold down the ALT key and select the number/letter of the access key.
- Internet Explorer 5+ for Mac: Hold down the CTRL key and select the number/letter of the access key
- Internet Explorer 4.5 for Mac: Access keys are not supported.
- Netscape 6+: Hold down the ALT key and select the number/letter of the access key.
- Netscape earlier versions: Access keys are not supported.
- Mozilla: Hold down the ALT key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Resizing Text
If the text is too small for you to comfortably read then you can resize it accordingly. Instructions are given for major browsers below:
- Internet Explorer 4:
Choose View>Internet Options…>Accessibility… and check the ignore font sizes specified on web pages option. Click OK, OK, and then you can alter the text size using the View>Text Size option
- Internet Explorer (version 5 and later):
Choose Tools>Internet Options…>Accessibility… and check the ignore font sizes specified on web pages option. Click OK, OK, and then you can alter the text size using the View>Text Size option. - Mozilla FireFox
Select the keys CTRL and + (From menu: View, Text Size, Increase) together to increase text size and CTRL and - to reduce it (From menu: View, Text Size, Decrease).
All other browsers should be able to resize the text directly from the menu bar. Please see your specific browser help pages if you are having difficulty.
Low Graphics Pages
Although not strictly text-only, these pages are quicker loading and useful if you do not need the images or if you are on a slow connection.
Downloadable Documents
Where possible we try to provide downloadable documents in multiple formats including PDF and rich text format.
If you have difficulties obtaining information from a PDF you can use Adobe's web-based conversion service to produce an HTML version (however, please be aware that the standard of HTML produced is not great).
Where possible we try to provide structured downloadable documents.
We appreciate that it must be extremely frustrating to not be able to access information through no fault of you own but we ask you to be patient whilst we continue to work on improving the accessibility of our site.
If you find any of our downloadable documents present a barrier to accessing information because of a disability please contact us giving details of the document in question, the problems encountered and what we could do to help.
More information on using this site can be found on Help using the Sheffield First Partnership Website.