• ncounter » accessibility

• for churches
• vacancies
• schools
• media
• schools band
• contact us

Accessibility

The ncounter partnership site has a number of features designed to help ensure everyone can access the site contents. In building the site we have passed testing to the priority 1, 2 and 3 guidelines of the Bobby accessibility evaluation, have checked visibility at a range of screen resolutions and have tested the site for visually impaired users (Deuteranope and Protanope, both forms of red/green deficit). We have worked to the W3C guidelines for accessibility and have included their recommendations to improve accessibility. These include;

Site Map

A site map can be accessed throughout the site using the footer on each page, and provides a quick reference and access to all of the pages of this site.

Consistent Navigation

We have sought to ensure that the navigation of the ncounter site is simple and consistent. All main pages can be selected from the top navigation bar and the side bar on all pages; the logo at the top left of each page returns to the home page, and the site map is available from each page.

Graphics and Alternative Text

All graphic images of ncounter have alternative text (ALT attribute), per Web accessibility guidelines, to describe the visual representation of the graphic. The alternative text is displayed for text-only browsers or if graphics are turned off. Screen readers speak this text when present.

Form Field Labels

Any form input fields have explicit associated labels to facilitate data entry with audio user agents.

Text Sizing

The size of the text on your screen can be decreased or increased through the web browser feature because ncounter uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) throughout the site.

Web Accessibility Guidelines

Web accessibility guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) were consulted to make this site accessible for all employees.

Help

If you are having difficulty accessing the ncounter website, please contact us to request the information in an alternative format. We also welcome your suggestions to make the website more accessible.

Some hints on improving how you view through your web browser

If you have difficulty in reading the ncounter website on your screen, you may be able to change the settings on your browser to help you improve their visibility.

How to change visibility features

The following suggestions to improve the visibility of web pages will apply to any site that you visit. However, you may find that not all pages in other sites are compatible. The images on the screen will not be affected. These instructions have been tested with Internet Explorer version 5.5 and 6.

To apply the font and colour changes below permanently:

• on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
• on the 'General' tab, click on 'Accessibility'
• click in each of the three boxes to show ticks
• click 'OK'.

Text with a sans serif font (such as Arial) is easier to read than a serif font (such as Times New Roman). To change the text font:

• on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
• on the 'General' tab, click 'Fonts'
• in the 'Web page font' and 'Plain text font' lists, choose the fonts you would like to use
• click 'OK'.

To enlarge the text:

• on the 'Browser' menu click 'View'
• click 'Text size'
• choose the size of text.

Combinations of fonts, typefaces and background colours used in web page design may result in text being difficult to read. However, you can choose settings to suit you. For example black text on a yellow background gives a distinct contrast. To change the text colour and background colour:

• on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
• on the 'General' tab, click 'Colours'
• deselect the 'Use Windows Colours' tick box
• select the box next to 'Text' and choose a colour
• click 'OK'
• select the box next to 'Background' and choose a colour
• click 'OK'.

To prevent graphics from appearing on web pages:

• under 'Tools', click 'Internet Options'
• on the 'Advanced' tab, scroll down to the 'Multimedia' heading
• click on the graphics options ('animations', 'videos' and 'pictures') to remove the ticks
• click on 'Apply', and then click on 'OK'
• if graphics still appear, select 'View' then 'Refresh' from the toolbar, or press F5.

To change the size of the window:

• click 'View' then 'Full Screen' from the toolbar, or press F11.

There are other options to tailor web pages that help make them easier to read. These may be found under the 'Tools' menu:

• click on 'Internet Options'
• select the 'Advanced' tab
• choose from the options available to improve visibility.

More information on improving browsing and accessibility can be found here