Accessibility Statement
Groundwork is proud to say that we endeavour to make sure that every page compiles with the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), as part of its Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). This site has been built to achieve Priority Level 3 checkpoints.Each page on Groundwork is regularly checked for compliance using Bobby from Watchfire. Bobby is a leading accessibility tool, which performs more than 90 accessibility checks on each page, measuring readability by screen readers, text equivalents for images, audio and video, colour dependency and keyboard support.
How this benefits disabled visitors
To illustrate how compliancy has made this site accessible, we have listed representative disabilities below and explained how this site meets the user’s needs.
Visual (Impaired)
Those with visual impairments (e.g. myopia) can scale on all pages on the site to suit their own requirement. All text on pages is scaled, including all menu items.
Hearing
There is no content on this site that cannot be accessed by the deaf or hard of hearing. To put this into context:
If we were to include audio clips we would also provide a text version of the soundtrack.
If we were to include movie clips or video streaming we would also provide time-indexed subtitles.
Speech
This site may be fully accessed using any voice-controlled computer and web browser.
Physical
For those of you that difficulty using the mouse, keyboard access is supported by using standard shortcut techniques. This site can be fully navigated without use of a mouse.
Cognitive
The layout of the site is uniform on all pages. The main (vertical) menu is structured identically on all pages (i.e. any page can be accessed anywhere on the site).
Neurological
There are no animated images or flashing text on this site which could- in extreme cases-cause difficulty for someone suffering from specific neurological disorders.
Features for the visually impaired
Groundwork incorporates several features to support the blind and poor sighted.
Text scaling
All text on Groundwork is specified in percentage terms, meaning that its size can be increased inside the browser window for easier viewing. The ability to support text scaling varies from browser to browser, but given below are some guidelines for the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Opera.
In Internet Explorer, select the View Text Size menu command. You can then choose from a range of text sizes (Largest, Larger, Medium (default), Smaller, Smallest). Note that Internet Explorer cannot resize images.
In Netscape Navigator, select View Text Zoom menu command. You can then have a range of text sizes (in percentages) to choose from, or you can select your own percentage. You can also continually increase or decrease the current zoom factor by pressing the Ctrl and +, or Ctrl and – key combinations. Note that Navigator cannot resize images.
In Opera, select the View Zoom menu command. You then have a range of percentages to choose from. Opera scales everything on the page, not just text, so images will also increase in size as you increase the zoom factor.
Even the same browser product can behave differently on different platforms. For example, Internet Explorer on the Mac will scale images, whereas Windows version cannot. Check with your supplier for details.
Give us your feedback
We are committed to providing an accessible service at Groundwork. If you experience problems or have any suggestions for improvement, please email us at north.east@groundwork.org.uk
