Promoting accessibility
Audit Scotland believes that everyone should be able to access its website regardless of any impairments or technical constraints.
As well as being intuitive and easy to use, the Audit Scotland website combines aesthetic value with practicality. This user-focussed design combines these requirements into one website solution to satisfy all of its users. Some of the measures we have taken to ensure that this website is accessible are detailed briefly below.
We have included the UK Government's standard access keys to enable you to navigate the main website sections using the keyboard.
For Windows-based PCs, press the 'Alt' key and one of the numbers below, then press the 'Return' key. For Apple Macs, press the 'Ctrl' key and one of the numbers below.
S - Skip navigation
1 - Home page
2 - About us
3 - Site map
4 - Publications
5 - Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
6 - Media centre
7 - Complaints procedure
8 - Terms and conditions
9 - Contact us
0 - Site map
Where possible, all pages within the site comply with the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Priority Level 1 and 2 guidelines.
Many Priority Level 3 guidelines have also been followed in the creation of this web site, and we intend to improve upon this in the future.
All forms have been made accessible using labels that are explicitly associated with the text boxes, radio buttons and checkboxes that make up these forms.
Where possible, and without compromising design, text has been used instead of images on this website. Navigation, page titles and subtitles, links and other elements have all been created using accessible html text.
To allow full user control over how text appears on screen, this site has been created using relative text sizes. Follow the instructions below to resize the text in your browser or use the resizing tool at the top of each page..
Click Tools > Internet Options > Accessibility. Check the 'ignore font sizes specified by Web pages' box. More detailed information is available on Microsoft's web site.
Click Edit > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts. Change size (pixels) to preferred settings
Older versions of Netscape may not allow you to override this web site's font size settings. A solution could be to upgrade to a more recent version of the Netscape browser.
Click File > Preferences > Fonts & Colors. Change minimum font sizes as desired. If you are using other browsers, or cannot change font sizes, please view help information that is provided. This can usually be found within the browser software itself.
-this link will open in a new window
Browsealoud reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online. Reading large amounts of text on screen can be difficult for those with literacy and visual impairments. There is also value for those with English as a second language.
To use Browsealoud you need to download and install the software-this link will open in a new window, when it is running simply move the mouse over some text on a web page and it is read out, no clicking or selecting of text is required.
The Browsealoud video tour -this link will open in a new window will give you more information on how to use this product.
The site has been tested to ensure that pages provide sufficient contrast when viewed by users with colour blindness or when viewed on a black and white screen.
No information is conveyed through colour alone.
Some browsers for example JAWS, Lynx and Opera can extract the list of links on a page and allow the user to browse the list separately. For this reason, wherever possible, links are written to make sense out of context.
All content images include descriptive ALT text attributes. Structural graphics have been given null ALT text attributes.
If you require an Audit Scotland publication in an alternative format and/or language, please contact us to discuss your needs. Publications are also available in computer format, as PDF and RTF documents, from our website.
Since Spring 2006 we have been producing sound files to accompany most reports which take the form of a short questions and answers session. We have also begun providing transcripts for these for the benefit of hearing impaired users. As well as aiding accessibilty, these podcasts are intended to provide an introduction, in clear, plain language, to the content of our reports so that people can approach the main body of our work with greater confidence. These files are in MP3 format and can be played on any standard media player.
International standards organisation, part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)