Accessibility statement
We hope we have made our Science, ethics and animals resource as accessible as possible, for as many users as possible. However, if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the accessibility of the site, please use our Contact us form at the bottom of the page to let us know.
Each page on this site is regularly checked for accessibility compliance, using a variety of industry-standard checking tools, plus some additional checks we have devised specifically for the site.
Text
All text elements on the site – including the navigation – can be read by a screen reader. (For further information on how the Flash areas of the site can be read by screen readers, see Use of Flash below).
Navigation
You can navigate the site without using a mouse, by using standard shortcut techniques on your keyboard.
Wherever possible we have used uniform layouts on the pages of this site. The site is divided into sections, all of which are accessible from the homepage.
We have provided a resource map, to give an overview and allow quick and easy access to the pages in the teachers’ area.
Browser compatibility
The site has been tested in the latest versions of common browsers and, where possible and practical, in previous versions of these browsers. If you are using Internet Explorer, you will find it works best with this from version 7 onwards.
Use of Flash
We have used Flash technology for our Ethics court and Value of life activities. Flash content is often thought to be inaccessible, but by following the latest guidelines and procedures, we have made our Flash content as accessible as HTML-based content. Below we have described some of the methods we have used do this.
Flash detection
When a user enters either of our Flash-based activities, the site establishes whether they have the Flash Player installed on their machine. If they do not, users are taken to a screen explaining to them that they require Flash to use the activities. It asks whether they wish to download Flash Player. If they do not, they are advised about which areas of the site they can access without using Flash.
Use of video
All video content in our Flash activities can be easily paused to stop playback. The audio level can be controlled and easily muted. All video content is downloaded progressively rather than streamed, making it as available as possible to all. Transcripts are provided for all video content, which you can read alongside each video.
Backgrounds
Unnecessary content, such as backgrounds, are hidden from screen readers in our Flash activities.
Flash navigation
Flash navigation is activated by a button, which is made available to anyone using a screen reader. This is called Progressive Disclosure; you can choose to see the navigation before being exposed to its contents.
Tabbing
Keyboard users can navigate the Flash activities using the tab key to move from one button to another (and shift + tab to move back). To activate a button you can use the enter key. Text associated with the buttons can be read out by screen readers.
Motor skills
There are no actions on the site that need to be performed within a certain amount of time. If you have difficulty using a mouse, you can access all items using the keyboard, as described above.
Friendly URLs
Each of our Flash activities and areas of our activities is accessible through a unique, friendly URL.
Zoom
You can use Flash’s inbuilt zoom feature to increase the size of the content.
Full screen
You can view each of our Flash activities using the full screen display mode.