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Accessibility tips

Accessibility

Links to information further down the page Companion Card website browser shortcuts
Links to information further down the page General Web Accessibility Information
Links to information further down the page Stylesheet manipulation
Links to information further down the page Acknowledgement
Links to information further down the page Site Accessibility

Companion Card website browser shortcuts

Shortcut keys can be used by holding the "Alt" key down and pressing the number relevant to the area of the website you wish to visit. The ten items listed below indicate the shortcut keys for navigation on the Companion Card website.

Shortcut key for home is 0
Shortcut key for sitemap is 1
Shortcut key for About Companion Card is 2
Shortcut key for Applying for a card is 3
Shortcut key for Using your card is 4
Shortcut key for Industry is 5
Shortcut key for Downloads is 6
Shortcut key for FAQs is 7
Shortcut key to skip to the Navigation is 8
Shortcut key to skip to the Content is 9

General Web Accessibility Information

There are many tools that people with a disability can use to assist to access the Internet. These tools are either hardware or software.

Hardware
These tools manipulate the keyboard or mouse, because the person with a disability cannot use them. Examples are:

Software
These tools change how a user interacts with the site. Examples are:

  • Screen readers - Programs such as JAWS
  • Screen Magnifiers - Programs that magnify sections of the screen for people with vision impairments. See Windows Screen Magnifier.
  • Oversized cursors - Large cursors for people with vision impairments. See "Biggy" cursors.
  • Onscreen keyboards - Keyboards for people with motor disabilities used in combination with switching devices. See On-screen keyboard.
  • Programs that slow down applications for people with motor disabilities, for example CPU Killer (for Windows).
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Stylesheet manipulation

This following information contains instructions on how to change the fonts, colours and sizes on the following four browsers:

Links to information further down the page Internet Explorer 5.0.
Links to information further down the page Internet Explorer 4.0.
Links to information further down the page Netscape Navigator 4.0.

Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.

Setting the text and background colours - IE 5.0
Use the following procedure to change the colours of the text and the background in Microsoft Explorer V5:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu. The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.
  • Select the General tab.
  • Click the Colors button. The system displays the Colors dialogue box.
  • You can select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background. Note: If you change the colours significantly, such as to light coloured text on a dark background, you will also need to change the colours of the links, otherwise they may become invisible.
  • Click OK to close the Colors dialogue box.
  • Click the Accessibility button. The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.
  • Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
  • Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
  • Click OK to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Note: Advanced users can create a style sheet to apply their preferences for colour and layout to the web pages in the browser. Internet Explorer V5 permits you to attach your own style sheet under the Accessibility options.

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Setting the fonts - IE 5.0

Use the following procedure to change the fonts in Microsoft Internet Explorer V5:

  1. Select Internet Options from the Tools menu. The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.
  2. Click the Fonts button. The system displays the Fonts dialogue box.
  3. Select the Web page font and the Plain text font as required.
  4. Click the OK button to close the Fonts dialogue box.
  5. Click the Accessibility button. The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.
  6. Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
  7. Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
  8. Click the OK button to close the Internet Options dialogue box

Note: Advanced users can create a style sheet to apply their preferences for colour and layout to the web pages in the browser. Internet Explorer V5 permits you to attach your own style sheet under the Accessibility options.

Setting the font size - IE 5.0

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

  • Under the View menu there is the option "Text sizes".
  • Select the size, from Largest to Smallest from the submenu.

Microsoft Internet Explorer V4.

Setting the text and background colours - IE 4.0

  1. Select Internet Options from the View menu. The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.
  2. Select the General tab.
  3. Click the Colors button. The system displays the Colors dialogue box.
  4. You can select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background. Note: If you change the colours significantly, such as to light coloured text on a dark background, you will also need to change the colours of the links, otherwise they may become invisible.
  5. Click OK to close the Colors dialogue box.
  6. Click the Accessibility button. The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.
  7. Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
  8. Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
  9. Click OK to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Note: Advanced users can create a style sheet to apply their preferences for colour and layout to the web pages in the browser. Internet Explorer V4 permits you to attach your own style sheet under the Accessibility options.

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Setting the fonts - IE 4.0

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

  1. Select Internet Options from the View menu. The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.
  2. Click the Fonts button. The system displays the Fonts dialogue box.
  3. Select the family of the Proportional font and the Fixed Width font as required.
  4. Select the Font size.
  5. Click the Set as Default button.
  6. Click the OK button to close the Fonts dialogue box.
  7. Click the Accessibility button. The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.
  8. Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
  9. Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
  10. Click the OK button to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Note: You can temporarily change the font size in the current browser session by selecting Fonts from the View menu. Select the size, from Largest to Smallest from the submenu. You can also add a Font button to the toolbar by selecting the Show Font Button option under the Advanced tab on the Internet Options dialogue box.

Netscape Navigator V4.7

Setting the text and background colours - NN 4.7

Use the following procedure to change the colours of the text and the background in Netscape Navigator V4.7:

  1. Select Preferences from the Edit menu. The system displays the Preferences dialogue box.
  2. Select the Colors option in the Category field on the left-hand side.
  3. Select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background.
  4. To change the colour of an item, click the coloured buttons to display the Color dialog box.
  5. If you have changed the colour scheme significantly, such as light text on a dark background, it is wise to select the Always use my colors, overriding document option.
  6. Click the box "Always use my colours, overriding document".
  7. Click OK to close the Preferences dialogue box.
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Setting the fonts - NN 4.7

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

Use the following procedure to change the fonts in Netscape Navigator V4.7:

  1. Select Preferences from the Edit menu. The system displays the Preferences dialogue box.
  2. Select the Fonts option in the field on the left-hand side.
  3. Select the family and size of the Variable Width Font and the Fixed Width Font as required.
  4. You can also choose the following options:
    • Use my default fonts, overriding document-specified fonts. (This option uses only the fonts that you have selected).
    • Use document specified fonts, but disable Dynamic Fonts. (This option uses the fonts specified by the web page, but only if they exist on your system).
    • Use document-specified fonts, including Dynamic Fonts. (This option uses the fonts specified by the web page and will download them if they are not available on your system).
  5. Click the OK button to close the dialogue box.

Note: In addition setting the font size preferences, you can temporarily increase or decrease the font size in the current session by pressing CTRL [ to decrease the font size, or CTRL ] to increase the font size. This feature enables you to "zoom" in or out to make it easier to read the page.

Acknowledgement

The information above has been sourced from

Site Accessibility

The Companion Card web site has been designed and developed so that it can be used by people regardless of disability. In July 2005, Gian Sampson-Wild, a member of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group, reviewed the Companion Card web site against the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 1.0. As at July 2005 this site meets all the requirements to claim conformance with Level AAA.