Accessibility

(access key 0)

Access Keys

Access keys provide keyboard users with shortcuts to key links rather than working through all the links on a page with the tab key. The idea is to provide an alternative to users who cannot use a mouse.

Unfortunately there isn't an established standard for which keys should be used. The RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind) recommend using the UK Government Standard (1) which is laid down in section 2.4.4 of the e-Government Web Handbook (2). We follow these keys as far as possible but have linked to different pages for access keys 6, 7, 8 and 9.

We use the following access keys on all our web pages:

Home (access key 1)
What's New (access key 2)
Site Map (access key 3)
Search (access key 4)
Frequently Asked Questions (access key 5)
Key Topics (access key 6)
Lifestyle Issues (access key 7)
Research (access key 8)
Forum (access key 9)
Accessibility (access key 0)

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

Level Triple-A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. Our web pages conform to level Triple-A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, including all Priority 1, Priority 2, and Priority 3 checkpoints defined in the guidelines.

References

Royal National Institute of the Blind - www.rnib.org.uk/..
Cabinet Office - www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/..

Disclaimer: For your own health and safety you should always seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner and not act on information published on this web site. No responsibility can be accepted for the content or absence of content published on this site for any reason.