Accessibility Information

Accessibility Info: Main Accessibility Links for Non-Graphical / Keyboard Navigation

These links are intended to help users who do not use a graphical pointing device (such as a mouse).

The very first link on every page is a link to this page of Accessibility Information (it is not present on this page, for obvious reasons). With author styles enabled, this link is not displayed (but may be tabbed to - see Accessibility Links in Graphical Browsers, below).

Immediately following this first link is a list of internal skip links, each linking to a different part of the current page. These are, in order:

Skip to Page Content

An internal link to the page content, skipping the remainder of the main accessibility links

Up, Next & Previous Links

An internal link to the section of the page containing the Parent (Up), Next and Previous document links.

Your Location

An internal link to the 'Your Location' breadcrumb trail, skipping over page content and footer

Main Menu

An internal link to the Main Menu at the bottom of the document

Page Footer

An internal link to the Page Footer & Copyright, skipping over page content

With author styles enabled, only the "Skip to Page Content" link is ordinarily visible, positioned at the very top left corner of the page (other links may be tabbed to - see below).

Accessibility Links in Graphical Browsers

Unlike some other sites, Webcompliant.co.uk does not entirely remove these accessibility links in graphical browsers by using author styles: this is to cater for those users who prefer to use keyboard rather than mouse navigation. Instead, the accessibility links may be reached (in browsers which support this feature) by using the TAB key - the first link tabbed to in each page is "Accessibility Information" (except on this page), the second "Skip to Page Content", the third "Up, Next & Previous Links", and so on. As it is tabbed to, the text of the accessibility link appears in the top left hand corner of the page. This feature is known not to work in Netscape 6 and Opera, although the "Skip to Page Content" link may still be activated with the mouse, since it is visible in the top left corner of the page.

Accessibility Info: 'Top of Page' Link

In addition to the Main Accessibility Links mentioned earlier, there is also a 'Top of Page' link situated just prior to the Page Footer:

Top of Page (Accesskey X)

An internal link to the very top of the current page. This is given accesskey X, the only accesskey defined on any page.

In a graphical browser with author styles enabled, this link is placed in the left-hand margin of the page, just above the Page Footer.

Accessibility Info: Page Footer & Copyright

The Page Footer contains copyright information and a last modified date for the page, as well as a link by which the validity of the document may be checked using the W3C's Markup Validator, and various other bits of information.

Accessibility Info: Up, Next & Previous Links

Immediately following the page footer, there is a set of three links to pages which are related to the current page. These are:

1. Up to …

A link to the parent of the current page in the site hierarchy (not present on the home page which does not have a parent)

2. Next …

A link to the next page at the current level in the site hierarchy, if there is one

3. Previous …

A link to the previous page at the current level in the site hierarchy, if there is one

In a graphical browser, with author styles enabled, the Up, Next & Previous Links are situated at the top left corner of the screen in the margin to the left of the main menu. Only the links which exist for that particular page are shown, e.g. there is no "2. Next Section …" link shown on this page since the Accessibility section is the last section at this level of the site hierarchy.

Each page also contains relationship link elements in the page head - this means that, for example, users of the Opera browser can use *Opera's Navigation bar to navigate the site more easily.

Accessibility Info: Your Location (Breadcrumb Trail)

Each page contains a breadcrumb trail which shows how the current page may be reached within the document hierarchy. The breadcrumb trail is titled 'Your Location' and is situated between the Page Footer and the Main Menu on each page. In a graphical browser, with author styles enabled, the breadcrumb trail is displayed at the very top of the page.

Except on the Home Page itself (where there are no links in the breadcrumb trail), the first link in Your Location will be to the Home Page and the last to the parent of the current page (the title of the current page itself is displayed as plain text after this parent link, for completeness). Each link in the trail is separated from the next by a > character.

Accessibility Info: Main Menu and any Submenus

The menu is implemented in a nested list structure, with submenus being included only for the current main menu section. In a graphical browser, with author styles enabled, the submenus appear just below the main menu items at the top of the page (if there are any submenus for that section, that is).

'Skip Submenus' Accessibility Link

As well as the other accessibility links mentioned so far, a further accessibility link is provided within the Main Menu to skip past any submenus to the next main menu item:

Skip Submenus

Within the Main Menu, this link allows submenus of the current section to be skipped, moving on to the next main menu item (not present if the current section has no submenus)

In a graphical browser, with author styles enabled, this is the only accessibility link which is not displayed at the left margin of the page, but instead it appears (only when tabbed to) at the top left hand corner of the submenus.