The site's layout takes into account users who are blind or visually impaired, and is compatible with popular screen reading software. If you have difficulties using a mouse, the site can be navigated using only a keyboard.

Below are some of the measures we have taken to ensure the accessibility of this website.

Navigational aids

Access keys

Most browsers support jumping to specific links by typing keys defined on the web site.

On this site the home page and all archives define the following access keys in accordance with the UK Government access keys standard:

• Access key s - Skip Navigation
• Access key 1 - Home page
• Access key 3 - Sitemap
• Access key 4 - Search box
• Access key 0 - Accessibility statement (links to this page)

To use an access key:

On Microsoft Windows

If you use Internet Explorer version 4, Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape Navigator version 6 or later, hold down the ALT key and press the relevant access key (ALT + access key).

If you use Internet Explorer 5+ you then need to follow the same instructions as above, but press ENTER to follow the link.

On Macintosh OS X

If you use Safari version 1.2 to version 3 inclusive, Firefox, Mozilla or Internet Explorer version 5 or later, hold down CTRL and press the relevant access key.

If you use Safari version 4 or higher, the keystroke is CTRL + CMD + the relevant access key.

Opera on Windows and Macintosh OS X

Hold down the SHIFT key and press ESC, release these keys, then press the access key to follow the link (SHIFT + ESC, access key).

Listen to the page

At the bottom of every page you will find a link called "Listen to this page". Selecting this link will activate Dixerit which creates an audio version of the website in real-time.This service does not require plugins to be downloaded.

Speech enabling our web site provides an additional way of accessing content for people who find it hard to read. This includes those with dyslexia or learning difficulties, those for whom English is not their first language, or anyone with a mild visual impairment.

Also available via the "Listen to this page" link:

			A magnifier tool, which allows you to magnify your screen display up to 6 times its normal size, and is the ideal aid if you have difficulty reading small text.
			The contrast tool allows you to apply a tint to your screen. This can be of any colour and brightness. If you find it difficult to read on-screen text because of excessive glare, or because of poor colour contrast, this tool will help make reading more comfortable.

Change site appearance

If you have any difficulty in reading the content of the site in its default design, you may like to try changing the underlying style to the alternatives we provide. Your preferences will be saved into a cookie and applied to all pages on this site.

• Display the site in text only: This style reduces the layout of the page to a single column of text (like a book) rather than a multi-column layout (newspaper style) and increases the text size. This view is suited to PDAs and mobile devices.
• Light on dark: This style also uses a single column layout of larger than normal text, but reverses the contrast so that light coloured text appears on a dark background.

In either case, you may continue to change the text size using your chosen browser's controls, or by using the "A" buttons at the top of the page.

You can also access a colour contrast tool from the 'Listen to this page' link at the foot of this page. The contrast tool allows you to apply a tint to your screen. This can be of any colour and brightness. If you find it difficult to read on-screen text because of excessive glare, or because of poor colour contrast, this tool will help make reading more comfortable.

Text

All the most popular browsers allow text on the website to be displayed larger or smaller, depending on user preference or need.

On Microsoft Windows

If you use Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape Navigator version 6 or later, change the text size by holding down the CTRL key and press the plus key (CTRL + plus) or minus key (CTRL + minus) to increase or decrease the text size respectively.

If you use Internet Explorer, on the menu bar choose View > Text Size and then the desired size from the list.

On Macintosh OS X

In all the most popular browsers, excluding Opera, hold down the Command key and press the plus (CMD + plus) or minus (CMD + minus) key to increase or decrease the text size respectively.

In Opera on Windows and Macintosh OS X

Unlike other browsers, Opera uses a 'page zoom' feature to magnify text and images on a web page. To choose a different zoom level, from Opera's menu bar choose View > Zoom and then the percent of magnification you desire.

You can also access a magnifier tool from the 'Listen to this page' link at the foot of this page. The magnifier tool, which allows you to magnify your screen display up to 6 times its normal size, and is the ideal aid if you have difficulty reading small text.

Images

All non-decorative images contain descriptive alt attributes (these are descriptions of images that are displayed as a text tag when you hold your mouse pointer over an image).  These descriptive text tags work better when you are using Internet Explorer.

Technical standards that we believe we are currently meeting

Standards compliance

In accordance with the technical guidelines of UK Cabinet Office e-Government handbook:

• All pages in the 'main' site (URLs beginning with http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/) comply with all priority 1 and 2 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA.
• All pages in the main site validate as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) 4.01 Transitional.
• All pages use valid Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
• All pages in the main site use structured, semantic markup with main content appearing before the primary navigation in the underlying code.

Exceptions

Certain areas of this site are legacy sub-sites which haven't been converted into the 'main' site yet.  This means they are not part of the site beginning with the URL (Web address) 'http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/'.   These areas of the website are not always compliant with accessibility standards, although they may look like part of the main site visually.  Often this is because the technology behind them is doing a specific job that is very difficult to achieve in an accessible way.  These sub-sites will be replaced with fully standards compliant pages within the main site as soon as North Yorkshire County Council is able to do so.

Online mapping

We are aware that the mapping technology deployed on the North Yorkshire County Council website may not be fully accessible.  This is a third party application of which we have no developmental control to make immediate changes; however, discussions are currently ongoing with the supplier to negate these accessibility issues and we hope to implement these changes/measures in the near future.

Translation

We also now have a translation service so that North Yorkshire County Council's website can be viewed in difference languages.  Please view the translation service here.

How are we doing?

We strive to make the North Yorkshire County Council website accessible to all.  If there is an area you are having difficulty accessing or if you have any suggestions as to how we can improve the accessibility of this website, please let us know by sending an email to webteam@northyorks.gov.uk.

Minicom

You can contact us via minicom on 0845 603 6391

SMS

Unfortunately we do not have an SMS service.