Download Temporary Accessibility Policy

INTERNAL
Nerivon.com
Professional Web Development
30 Durham Street West, Lindsay, Ontario, K9V 2P5, 705-328-7350
Date:
August 28, 2013
For:
Nerivon.com
Re:
Accessibility Policy
Accessibility Policy
Updated October 9, 2013
Accessibility is the word used to describe how easily a website can be used by people of all abilities and
disabilities.
Accessibility is important to us
Our Website
We are committed to ensuring that our website is as accessible as reasonably possible to all visitors.
And we are committed to making our own website usable by all people, whatever their level of abilities
or disabilities.
We therefore try to follow UK best-practice accessibility guidelines.
For example, we have:
1.included buttons at the top of every page to enable users to make text larger;
2.added a skip navigation button to enable screen reader users to navigate straight to
main content;
3.carefully chosen colours and the contrast between colours, the size of text and the
choice of fonts;
4.tried to create an intuitive, logical, hierarchical website navigation structure based on
the three-click rule to enable users to quickly find information;
5.used CSS (cascading style sheets) to control content layout;
6.only used tables when presenting data requiring a tabular format;
7.wherever possible used simple language written in short sentences and paragraphs
with correct punctuation;
8.ensured that when forms are used they follow a logical tab sequence and make use of
label elements to identify the input required;
9.successfully tested our website to ensure that visually impaired visitors can read content by
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INTERNAL
Nerivon.com
Professional Web Development
30 Durham Street West, Lindsay, Ontario, K9V 2P5, 705-328-7350
means of theGoogle ChromeVox screen reader.
Using assistive technology can also help
We have tried to ensure that our website is accessible to everyone but despite our best efforts you may
find that by also customising your computer to suit your individual needs will improve your experience
when visiting our website.
The BBC My Web website offers useful advice for how to:
1.use your computer's accessibility features, or
2.install assistive technologies.
• Computer accessibility features
• Assistive technologies
Computer accessibility features enable you to:
1. change text and background colours,
2. make text larger,
3. change fonts,
4. magnify your screen,
5. make your mouse pointer easier to see,
6. make your computer speak text aloud,
7. make your keyboard easier to use,
8. use your keyboard to control the mouse.
1.
Let us know if you have difficulties using our website
We try hard to ensure our website is accessible but you may still experience some limitations.
If you do find any part of our website difficult to use then please tell us about your experience and we
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INTERNAL
Nerivon.com
Professional Web Development
30 Durham Street West, Lindsay, Ontario, K9V 2P5, 705-328-7350
will do our best to try to
find a solution.
When contacting us, please:
1.describe the problem (where it occurred and what the problem was),
2.tell us where in the website you were having difficulty (by copying the URL from the
browser address bar, or describing the web
3.page)
4.provide details about what you were trying to do, and why it was difficult or impossible
to do it,
5.provide details about your computer's operating system and any accessibility software
and which browser you were using at the time.
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative offers useful advice to those providing feedback to website
owners.
Our Template Designs
When designing Joomla! templates we aim to follow UK best-practice accessibility guidelines.
For example:
1.we test all our templates to ensure they are W3C XHTML 1.0 and W3C CSS Level 3
compliant;
2.we aim for all our template designs to comply with the requirements of WCAG 2.0
Level A;
3.we aim for all our template design textual content colour combinations to comply with
the requirements of WCAG 2.0 Level AA.
Our Website Designs
We build our websites using the Joomla!® 2.5 CMS and Joomla!® 3.0 CMS (content management
system). Both are W3C XHTML 1.0 and W3C CSS Level 3 compliant.
3rd Party Extensions
Whilst not all 3rd Party Joomla! Extensions are W3C XHTML 1.0 and W3C CSS Level 3 compliant, our
policy is to recommend only those 3rd Party Joomla! Extensions which are more rather than less
compliant with these guidelines.
Exemplar Content
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INTERNAL
Nerivon.com
Professional Web Development
30 Durham Street West, Lindsay, Ontario, K9V 2P5, 705-328-7350
Our DIY Starter, GoPRO and eCommerce website designs incorporate exemplar content to demonstrate
to our customers how they may manage website content in accordance with UK best-practice
accessibility guidelines.
For example:
1.images utilise an "ALT" or "TITLE" tag to provide a text based alternative to the image;
2.tables are only used when presenting data requiring a tabular format;
3.colour is not relied upon as a method of conveying information;
4.there is sufficient contrast ratio between background and foreground colours to allow
viewing on a black and white display or by someone with visual impairment;
5.simple language is written in short sentences and paragraphs, using correct
punctuation;
6.where forms are used they follow a logical tab sequence and make use of label
elements to identify the input required;
7.website navigation uses an intuitive, logical, hierarchical structure based on the
three-click rule to enable users to quickly find information.
• More about XHTML
• More about CSS
More about XHTML
Wynchcote templates are built using XHTML compliant code - XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
XHTML code tells the web browser what goes where. It is important that xhtml is correct to ensure that
website content is displayed correctly.
Compliance with XHTML 1.0 ensures that Web pages will appear in a uniform way across different
browser platforms.
When a website has valid XHTML it means that it conforms to the standards set out by the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C).
A website built using valid XHTML code is more accessible than one that isn't.
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INTERNAL
Nerivon.com
Professional Web Development
30 Durham Street West, Lindsay, Ontario, K9V 2P5, 705-328-7350
UK best-practice accessibility guidelines
Top
UK Equality Law
UK equality law requires that companies and other organisations take reasonable steps to ensure that as
many disabled people as possible have full access to goods, services and places of interest.
This legislation extends to the provision of information and services via the internet.
•
•
•
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Equality Act 2010
BS 8878
eAccessibility Action Plan
WCAG Guidelines
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act came into force in October 2010, replacing the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in
England, Scotland and Wales.
The Disability Discrimination Act provided protection for disabled people from direct discrimination only
in employment and related areas.
The Equality Act protects disabled people against direct discrimination in areas beyond the employment
field (such as the supply of goods, facilities and services).
Read more about the Equality Act 2010
How does the new Equality Act differ from the old Disability Discrimination Act?
This is what the UK Government's Office for Disability Issues states on its website:
"The main purpose of the Equality Act 2010 (EA) is to streamline and strengthen anti-discrimination
legislation in Great Britain. It provides the legal framework that protects people, including disabled
people, from discrimination.
It replaces a range of anti-discrimination legislation, including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995
(DDA) and subsequent amendments.
The EA does not replace the UK-related parts of the DDA for civil servants working in Northern Ireland."
Source: Office for Disability Issues.
RNIB Summary of UK Law for Websites
The Royal National Insitute for the Blnd (RNIB) usefully summarise the UK Law for Websites on their
website, rnib.org.uk.
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INTERNAL
Nerivon.com
Professional Web Development
30 Durham Street West, Lindsay, Ontario, K9V 2P5, 705-328-7350
Disability Discrimination Act (UK)
Interestingly, some parts of the previous legislation still apparently apply to Northern Ireland!
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The Joomla!® name is used under a limited license from Open Source Matters in the United States and
other countries. Wynchcote Limited is not affiliated with or endorsed by Open Source Matters or the
Joomla! Project.
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