The first thing you will encounter on the page is a block of four links. On the Home Page the accessibility link has been placed first followed by skip to contents, skip to navigation and finally, site map. On all other pages the accessibility link has been moved to last place to speed up navigation for keyboard users.
These links are followed by three more to adjust the page style: they are high visibility, small screen renderer and default style.
Next there is a header bar containing the name of the company followed by the main navigation bar which includes a link back to the homepage as well as links to the other main sections of the site.
The body of the page contains two columns, the left-hand column contains page contents, the right hand column has section-specific information and navigation.
Finally, at the bottom of each page are links which allow you to jump back to the top of the page, read our Privacy Policy and, if you are so inclined, check out the validity of these pages or make sure that we comply with Internet contents rating.
Once you have reached the contents you want, you can just let your screenreader read from the top. All headings are properly nested.
Images that convey meaningful information have alt text describing the contents of the picture. Where more information is needed than will sensibly fit in the alternate description, we have provided a long description.
This site has an aural stylesheet. You may override this with your own. We have tried not to interfere with your reader preferences and have stuck to generic settings. If you use our stylesheet the following styles apply:
Headings are spoken in a female voice. There is a short pause before and after each heading.
Contents are spoken in a male voice.
Abbreviations and Acronyms are spelled out letter by letter.
Links are preceded by a soft click sound.
If your software and equipment support spatial awareness, we have applied directional properties so that all main headings and contents should be heard from the centre. Information and links in the right hand column should be read from the right hand speaker.
Why do we say..... "should be read" and not "will be read"??
The World Wide Web Consortium are in the process of resetting the standards for Cascading Style Sheets. An area that is subject to many changes is Aural stylesheets. Under the current system, CSS2, directional speech is supported by the Azimuth property. Under the new system, which is subject to change, directional speech is supported by the voice direction property. We have applied azimuth as it is currently the more reliable of the two however there is no guarantee that it will work with your software.