Accessibility

Find out about our work to make this website easy to use for disabled and non-disabled people.

Meeting the guidelines – and beyond

We have designed our website to meet level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines.

This makes it accessible to many disabled people who use computer programs and equipment to help them use websites.

The charity RNIB checked our website against the WC3 guidelines and their own accessibility standards.

They awarded us their See It Right logo in recognition that we've met the standards.

Our commitment to best practice website accessibility goes beyond just meeting the guidelines.

Read on to find out more.

We consulted with people who run care services and councils who commission services throughout the design of this website.

We used focus groups, surveys and three rounds of user testing to help create a website that is easy to use.

We have registered our website with Browsealoud.

This means anyone who downloads the free Browsealoud program can use it to read out all the words on our website.

We have used plain English on every page of our website.

By using straightforward, short sentences and easy to understand words we hope the information will be accessible to everyone.

The Plain English Campaign checked our website for plain English and to make sure it follows good practice guidelines.

They awarded us their Plain English Internet Crystal Mark in recognition that we've used plain English and our website is easy to use.

The Plain English Campaign said about the website: "The new website is of an exceptional standard in terms of usability and language.

"There is a huge amount of information to cover, yet the site does not feel daunting, and it is easy to navigate.

"The layout works well... allowing visitors to find the information they are looking for.

"The colour scheme is easy on the eye, and there is plenty of white space.

"We have no hesitation in awarding this site the Internet Crystal Mark."

We've tried very hard to make our website as easy to use as possible. But we know that it's an ongoing job.

Please contact us if you have any comments or suggestions on how we can make improvements.