Accessibility

The World MS Day website has been developed in consultation with people with MS to be easy for people with MS to use, for example, by using large text and tabbed browsing.

We have built this site to be accessible to everyone, especially people with MS. It is our belief that no one should be excluded from viewing and interacting with the site.

An accessible site does not:

  • exclude anyone due to their abilities
  • exclude anyone for the method they choose to access the web
  • prioritise frilly design aspects over clear content.

An accessible website does:

  • prioritise clear content
  • prioritise ease of navigation and structure
  • use the latest web technologies.

We are making every effort to ensure that we don't exclude any users. For example:

  • we try to use clear and simple language
  • we use alternative text for all our images
  • the HTML we produce conforms to the standard: XHTML 1.0 Transitional.

Text resizing

Most browsers feature the ability to resize text on screen to a level you can read easily. Follow the instructions below for your specific computer and browser:

  • PC / Internet Explorer 6: From the top menu bar, select View and point to Text size
  • PC / Internet Explorer 7: From the menu bar underneath the search field, select Page and point to Text size
  • PC / other browsers: Increase text size: Hold down the CTRL key and press + Decrease text size: Hold down the CTRL key and press -Mac / all browsers: Increase text size: Hold down the Command key and press + Decrease text size: Hold down the Command key and press -

Alternatively, if you are using a modern browser and have a mouse with a wheel you can also alter the size of the text size by holding down ctrl (PC) or command (Mac) on your keyboard while scrolling up and down with the mouse wheel.

Using the tab key

You can use the Tab key on your keyboard to move between links on a page. Pressing Tab once highlights the next link, Shift+Tab highlights the previous link. When you use the Tab key to move between links on the website, you'll be taken through them in a logical sequence. If a link opens in a new window, this will be indicated by a pop-up title text. Every effort has been made to ensure that link names are distinct and not repeated on pages.

Contrast

For the benefit of visually impaired users, all our pages are viewable in 'Colour Contrast' mode by selecting the colour contrast buttons at the top of the page . To return to standard view, simply select the icon again.

All our web pages are designed to meet colour contrast accessibility standards. For the benefit of visually impaired users, all pages are also viewable in high visibility mode by selecting the colour contrast buttons at the top of the page. To return to standard view, simply select the icon again.

Standards compliance

Our pages conform at a minimum to Level AA compliance as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and endorsed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The majority of AAA requirements are also met. All pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional and use structured semantic markup. Our site requires a number of different CSS techniques for cross browser compatibility which can cause validator problems. However, we have ensured that all techniques we use are not detrimental to site accessibility. We strive to obey the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 with respect to the provision of services online, as required by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). While we use Bobby to test for accessibility, it is just one aspect of our testing procedure. As a computer programme, the Bobby test is not as reliable as expert evaluation.

Further information

For further information about accessibility and the many ways you can change your browser, computer, keyboard and mouse settings to make the web more accessible to you, visit the BBC's My Web My Way at http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility


Find out more

For more information about causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation go to the MSIF website or your national MS society.

Find your national MS society


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