Accessibility

Website Accessibility

This website has been designed to be accessible to as many people as possible. If you have difficulty using our site please let us know and we will do our best to rectify this in future maintenance and development.

• All pages on this site comply with all priority 1, 2, and 3 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
• All pages on this site validate as HTML5.
• This site is built using structured semantic markup. H2 tags are used for main titles to aid users of screen reading software such as JAWS.
• All pages have been authored to include Link Relationships to aid navigation in text-only browsers such as Lynx and graphical browsers that support this feature.
• This site has been coded to ensure a logical tab order through links and form elements. Keyboard navigation is possible via the TAB KEY on your keyboard. Alternatively, Opera users can use the A KEY to navigate links and the TAB KEY to navigate form elements.
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to control visual layout throughout this site.
• This site uses only relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified ‘text size’ option in visual browsers.
• If your browser or browsing device does not support Cascading Style Sheets, the content of this site will still be readable and usable.

Printed Resources and Materials Accessibility

As Creatives is committed to the development of learning opportunities which are inclusive by design and which do not discriminate against disabled learners. Our learning materials are designed in compliance with the Equality Act (EQA) 2010 and all aim to:

• benefit all learners;
• reduce the need for adjustments to teaching materials for individuals;
•  enable all learners to participate fully in their learning

Guidelines we adhere to:

Accessible text

• Use Word format (or equivalent) or accessible text-based PDF documents.
• Make sure the font size we use is appropriate. For example, 12 point is a reasonable size for paper handouts, and 24 point is a reasonable size for PowerPoint (or equivalent) presentations.
• Use a font such as Gilroy (As Creatives’ brand font), Arial or Calibri that will have good legibility both when printed and when viewed on screen devices.
• Avoid using block capital letters as these reduce readability.
• Use bold for emphasis, rather than underlined text or italics.
• Use left alignment rather than justified text to avoid uneven word spacing.
• Making sure text has sufficient line spacing – line spacing of at least 1.5 is preferable to single-spaced paragraphs.
• Provide adequate blank space and ample margins in documents and slides.
• Use headings to organise information effectively. Word has pre-set styles which make the navigation and hierarchy of documents clear.
• Use page numbering (e.g. page 12 of 25) and page or screen breaks to provide structural cues.
• Use dark text on a light background for contrast. Some students may require hard copies of handouts on different coloured paper (e.g. black text on off-white or yellow paper).
• Avoid using colour to convey information, because some students have difficulty perceiving differences between colours, particularly red and green.
• Keep sentences short and to the point. If you are presenting complex information, use bullet points to break it down into manageable but clearly related units.
• Avoid idioms.
• Avoid overlapping images with text unless there is sufficient contrast between the text and the background image.

Accessible multimedia

• Provide alternative text (ALT text) descriptions for essential images and graphics.
• Provide transcripts for audio.
• Provide subtitles or closed captions for video. If this is not possible, a transcript is essential.
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• Keep resources and web links up-to-date.
• Make sure the layout and availability of content complements the delivery of the programme.
• Signpost where to find essential content.
• Make sure that if links open in a new window this is clearly stated.
• Be aware that external content may not always be accessible.