Accessibility
Introduction
Perth & Kinross Council is committed to making its online resources accessible to all visitors. We continually review our site and modify pages to remove accessibility problems for people with disabilities and to make information more accessible for all users. All of our content is checked for Plain English, and we aim to use a written style which is straightforward and understandable.
Our target
Our target is to meet or exceed the provisions of the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Conformance Level "AA", which means that all Priority 2 checkpoints are satisfied. The full checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/.
This target is enshrined in our New Media Communications Strategy 2007 -2009 and our Corporate Equalities Scheme Disability 2006 -2009. Links to these are in the Downloads section on this page.
What does that mean in practice?
We follow a list of accessibility guidelines when designing web sites and their content. This includes:
- Maintain a standard layout and navigation system throughout;
- Use headings, paragraphs, lists and other HTML (HyperText Markup Language) to create a logical document structure;
- Allow visitors to resize all text;
- Use plain backgrounds to improve the readability of text;
- Use foreground and background colour combinations which have sufficient contrast and are not known to cause problems for people with colour-blindness;
- Use alt attributes on all images, and title or longdesc attributes where appropriate, and ensure that all alt, title and longdesc attributes are meaningful;
- Design layouts to work satisfactorily at a range of screen resolutions;
- Ensure all hyperlinks use descriptive and meaningful text, avoiding short-hand language like 'Click here', 'read' and 'more +'.
- Provide internal anchors for visitors using screen readers or similar technology;
- Always provide an alternative to scripts or other controls which rely on client device capability.
Listen to our website
If you find it difficult to read online, our website has been speech enabled which means our web pages and documents can be read aloud. All you need to do is download free software from Browsealoud and install on your PC by following their step by step guide. Once the software has been installed, you simply move your mouse over text on a web page or document and it is read out.
Your comments
We are always trying to improve www.pkc.gov.uk. If you have any comments on our accessibility policy, or suggestions for how to improve the site please contact:
New Media Improvement Officer
Perth & Kinross Council
2 High Street
Perth
PH1 5PH
Telephone: 01738 475084
Email: webmaster@pkc.gov.uk
