We want our website to be accessible as possible - so we have designed it in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the RNIB.

The design uses an 800x600 view on the main information pages to minimize horizontal scrolling..

• Plus we have used ALT tags for all images to provide descriptive text
• descriptive hyperlink text
• avoided the use of frames
• used an easy-to see web colour scheme
• used an easier to read non-serif font

However, making the website easy to use goes further than just colours and fonts. We are also working hard at making sure our site has useful content that is laid out in an easier to navigate way, taking into consideration people who use speech readers.

Change your Browser Settings If you want to alter the way you view the website, from the size of the text to the colour of the hyperlinks, you can change some of the options in your Internet browers. To change settings on the latest version of Netscape or Internet Explorer, follow the instructions for your browser type and version below.

Internet Explorer (IE5.x) instructions

To permanently change font and colour:

• On the browser Tools menu select "Internet Options"
• On the General tab select "Accessibility"
• Select each of the three boxes to show ticks
• Click "OK" to enlarge text
• On the browser Tools menu select "Internet Options"
• On the General tab select"Accessibility"
• Tick the "Ignore Font sizes specified on web pages" box
• Click "OK"
• On the browser menu select "View"
• Click "Text Size"
• Choose the text size best for you

To change the colour of the background or text

• On the browser Tools menu select "Internet Options"
• On the General tab select"Colour"
• 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 and image appearing

• On the browser Tools menu select "Internet Options"
• On the General tab select"Colour"
• On the Advance tab, scroll down to "Multimedia" heading
• Deselect the graphics options "Animations", "Videos" "Pictures" and "images" by clicking on the boxes to remove the ticks
• Click "Apply" and then "OK"

To change the size of the browser window, select full screen on the View menu, or press F11