If you select any of these images, a new browser window will open.
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Accessibility:
Since 1st December 2000 all Australian Commonwealth departments and agencies are obliged by the Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 to ensure that online information and services are accessible by people with disabilities. All
websites are to follow the W3C
guidelines to a sufficient extent that they pass recognised tests of accessibility.
While this site does not have to comply with the W3C accessibility guidelines, it does
meet the requirements.
We have provided a page which explains how we tested the site to meet the W3C accessibility guidelines.
Although this site is designed primarily for “modern browsers”, you will still be able to see all of the content with older browsers (and text only browsers such as Lynx). Even if your browser does not provide support for JavaScript or CSS (or you have the support turned off), you will still be able to navigate the site and view the content on each page. You can use the “Tab” key on your keyboard to navigate through the page links if you do not have a mouse.
Users should be aware that selecting a link to another site will cause another browser window to open. Whenever it is
possible, you will be warned about this happening by the use of the text “Link to EXTERNAL site” and also the use of the 
symbol. If you have concerns about another browser window opening, pause
for a second or two over the link and a message will appear. You can try this by placing your mouse over
this dummy link.
Keyboard navigation:
For those navigating the site using a keyboard or keypad device, there is a consistent tab order through
each page. At the top of the tab order are links which enable those using aids such as screen readers to
move easily around the page.
They appear in the following order immediately after the title of the page:
- what's new (at present only on the home page)
- site navigation links at the bottom of each page
- back to the top of the page
- links within the content of the page
Keyboard or keypad users can also bypass the tab order to directly access sections of the site by using access keys.
Access Keys:
These allow keyboard users to move directly to a link on the page. Press Alt-Access Key, then Enter to
access the areas of the site shown in the following list (this function is not supported in all
browsers - for Firefox 2, use Alt - Shift - Access Key).
Juicy Studio has some good information and links about the use of access keys.
| Access Key | Destination |
|---|---|
|
a |
Accessibility (this page) |
|
c |
Calendar |
|
f |
Forms |
|
n |
First navigation link, [Home] |
|
t |
Top of the page |
For example, to go to the Home page of the site:
Hold down the “Alt” key and press “n” then press “Enter”
An easy way to return to the top of any page is to use Alt t
Language:
Translations into other languages are available from sites such as
www.freetranslation.com
Printing:
It is recommended that you check the printing preferences of your browser.
A suggestion is that all margins should be 20 mm with no headers or footers. If you are going to punch holes in the
paper to place it in a folder, then perhaps the left margin should be 30 mm. Try printing one page and vary your
margins set up to suit. You can always see how the page will look when printed by using your browsers “Print Preview”.
The line lengths are not rigid, the text is designed to flow across and down the page no matter what margins you use.
Pages within this site will print the page content correctly in any browser that understands how to switch Style Sheets.
They will also print from any browser that doesn’t (such as Netscape Navigator 4),
but you will get the headers and footers as well as the page content. You can use your browser’s “Print Preview” if
you want to see how the page will print.
Text Size:
All modern visual browsers provide a means of varying the text size.
Standards:
The underlying construction of each page conforms to the W3C
recommendations for XHTML
and CSS.
To quote the W3C:
“XHTML is the next step in the evolution of the Internet. By migrating to XHTML today, content
developers can enter the XML world with all of its attendant benefits, while still remaining confident in their
content’s backward and future compatibility.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a simple mechanism for adding style (e.g. fonts, colours, spacing) to Web documents”.
In other words - XHTML is what makes it all work, while CSS is used for presentation.
The benefits of using CSS to control the text and background style, size, colour and position are great. All of the
information is contained within one small file. By making a change within that file, every page in the site will
reflect the change automatically.
Questions:
If you have any questions about the accessibility of this site (or anything else for that matter) please send a
message
to Mike Turner using the comments form.
