Accessibility

We aim to make it as easy as possible for you to access our information and get in touch. In this section you can find out what we have done to make the Council, the information and services we provide more accessible to people with physical, sight, hearing and learning difficulties. You will also find information about initiatives to help disabled or less mobile people get around and access the services they need.

You can find more information about our legal duties and commitment to arrangements on equality, diversity and service accessibility on our Equalities and Diversity page.

Website Accessibility

Havering Council is committed to making its website as accessible as possible to everyone, particularly people with disabilities. When developing and designing our website we also take into consideration the needs of young people, older people and people with learning difficulties. We aim to use a written style which is straightforward and easy to understand.

Accessibility Standards

We follow the latest accessibility standards in designing and developing our website. We aim to meet, if not exceed, the ‘AA’ (or ‘AAA)?) standard of the Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

We use automated checking service to ensure quality and accessibility of our website pages.

Access Keys

The only access key we have implemented is that for 'search'. Access keys can be used via a keyboard as an alternative form of navigation.

For a Windows based system, press the 'Alt' key combined with the access key, then followed by pressing the 'Enter' key.

For a Macintosh based system, press the 'Ctrl' key combined with the access key, then followed by pressing the 'Enter' key.

Access key Description

S Search

Other useful applications

The design of our website includes web safe colour and accessible fonts. It has been designed and tested in a variety of browsers.

Our website is compatible with most screen reading software and can be navigated using just the keyboard.

You can change the font size and colour using your browser’s settings.

At the top of every page on our website you will find a 'services' link listing all of our services including an A-Z service directory. All pages also have a keyword search tool.

Downloadable Documents

We use PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file format for the publication of large and complex documents.

To view PDF files you need to have Adobe® Reader installed. Adobe® Reader software is free and easy to download.

You can download the software from: http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/.

Adobe Accessibility

Adobe Accessibility is a resource designed to help people with visual disabilities work more effectively with Acrobat software. Please visit their website for further information: http://www.adobe.com/.

Talking Website - BrowseAloud

Our website is speech enabled using BrouseAloud. 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.

BrowseAloud software is free and easy to download. Once installed, you can listen to other BrouseAloud-enabled websites.

You can download the software from: http://www.browsealoud.com/page.asp.

Web Accessibility Help

More information on website accessibility is available at the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/) and the AbilityNet website (http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/myway/).