Site Tools

Help

Summary: Information about our site, how to change how it looks and tips for people using screen readers.

• Using the site
• Audio help
• Where to start
• Search tips
• How the site is built for accessibility
• Conformance statement

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We are committed to ensuring everyone can access our website. This includes people with sight problems, hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments as well as users with dial-up, older browsers or newer technologies such as mobiles and PDAs. If you have any comments and or suggestions please don't hesitate to contact us about the site (email webteam@rnib.org.uk).

Using the site

• Change your browser settings - find out how to change the font type, colour and size to suit your needs.
• You may prefer the convenience of our font size changer which appears as three A's in the top right hand of every page.
• Tips for screenreader users about how the site is structured.
• Our 'jump to site navigation' and 'jump to site tools navigation' links (at the top left of each page) help people using screen readers to skip around the page.

Audio help

We have a number of audio clips on the site, including an audio logo. Read our audio files help page if you are experiencing problems.

Where to start

Use the sitemap to get an overview of what is on the site or try one of the audience pages:

• Friends or family
• General public
• Members
• Older people
• People with sight problems
• Professionals
• Supporters
• Young people

Each of the main navigation areas – Good Design, About us, Eye info, Support us, Daily life and Shop have sub-sections. All of these sections can be accessed quickly from the homepage, using the drop-down menu in the left-hand column called “Browse by section”.

Search tips

A search box appears at the top of each page. To get the best results follow these tips:

• Use keywords - the search won't work well using natural language (eg 'how can I find out about benefits?'), keywords (eg 'benefits') will find better results.
• Use quotes to search for an exact phrase (eg 'Helen Keller').
• Refine your search by searching in a particular area of the website. For example, if you click on the 'Technology search' button when you are within the Technology section, you will restrict your search to information in that section only.

How the site is built for accessibility

Layout

The site uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS2) to control all of the presentation and layout. The tables that we previously used to control the placing of elements have been removed. Screen reader users no longer have to listen to this information.

As a result of the new presentation, screen reader users can use the screen reader's navigation key to get around the site. If you are listening to the site, menus are grouped together in a more logical fashion. The navigation has been moved to appear after the content. Users can quickly use the jump to navigation link to get to that.

Content

The content has been written and formatted to make it accessible. For example:

• headings highlight sections of text
• sentences are short with the meaning at the beginning
• links use meaningful text
• forms can be navigated using the tab key.

Conformance statement

The site satisfies the RNIB See it Right Guidelines for web accessibility. The See it Right checkpoints are taken from Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The WAI guidelines are the definitive international guidelines for building accessible websites. The guidelines are divided into three levels of compliance: Single-A (what you must do), Double-A (what you should do), and Triple-A (what you may do).

The See it Right checkpoints include most Single-A checkpoints, many Double-A checkpoints and some Triple-A checkpoints. They are the checkpoints that make a website accessible to all users including users with visual, mobility, cognitive and hearing impairments.

The site is tested regularly to ensure that standards are adhered to and maintained. The site has also undergone user testing by users with a range of disabilities including mobility, hearing and cognitive impairments as well as users with sight problems.

Content author: webteam@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 06/03/2008 15:41