Accessibility statement
This page tells you how we have worked to make our site accessible to you.
We have tried to build a site that places accessibility and usability principles at the centre.
For information about usability and accessibility improvements that are in development on our site please see the phase3 page.
Access keys
Most browsers support jumping to specific links by typing keys defined on the web site. On Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key.
All pages on this site define the following access keys:
- Access key S - skip navigation
- Access key 1 - home page
- Access key 2 - news page
- Access key 3 - site map
- Access key 4 - to the search facility on the site
- Access key 5 - frequently asked questions (F A Qs)
- Access key 6 - help page/facility
- Access key 7 - complaints procedure
- Access key 8 - terms and conditions (including privacy statement)
- Access key 9 - feedback page
- Access key 0 - the menu page of accesskeys detailing the accesskeys are being used within the website and the information or services they link to.
Standards compliance
- We are working towards conforming to W3C’s “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0”, available at http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505. The exceptions to this is that some legacy content and code is over 6 years old and does not meet contemporary stringent W3C guidelines. Work is being carried out to bring such content and code up to W3C compliance where appropriate. For more information about usability and accessibility improvements to the Scope site please see the phase3 page.
- Most pages on this site validate as HTML 4.0 Strict. The exceptions to this are that some legacy content and code contains minor deviations from strict compliance. Work is being carried to bring such content and code up to W3C compliance where appropriate.
- All pages on this site use structured semantic markup. H2 tags are used for main titles, H3 tags for subtitles. For example, on this page, JAWS users can skip to the next section within the accessibility statement by pressing ALT+INSERT+3.
Links
- Links are written to make sense out of context.
Images
- All content images used in this site include descriptive
ALTattributes.
Visual design
- This site uses cascading style sheets for visual layout.
- If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the content of each page is designed to be still readable.
Accessibility references
- W3 accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.
- W3 accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.
- W3 accessibility checklist, a busy developer's guide to accessibility.
- U.S. Federal Government Section 508 accessibility guidelines.
Accessibility software
- JAWS, a screen reader for Windows. A time-limited, downloadable demo is available.
- Lynx, a free text-only web browser for blind users with refreshable Braille displays.
- Links, a free text-only web browser for visual users with low bandwidth.
- Opera, a visual browser with many accessibility-related features, including text zooming, user stylesheets, image toggle. A free downloadable version is available. Compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and several other operating systems.
Notes
The accessibility (and accessibility statement) of this website is under continual development.
For more information about usability and accessibility improvements to the Scope site please see the phase3 page.
For all the information about the Scope website please see the site information pages.