Accessibility Statement

Wexford Local Authorities recognises and values the provision of information on this website in a format which is accessible to all, regardless of ability or disability.

The site has been redesigned in a manner which avoids clutter and provides a consistent navigation methodology throughout the site and strives to allow for plenty white space to avoid clutter.

The use of colour, breadcrumbs and links back to main sections allows for easier navigation. Staff developing the site have attended courses on web design for accessibility and have liased with disability bodies in the design.

The site has been designed to reach AA (WCAG WAI Level 2) accessibility levels. However work on ancillary sites and Adobe documents on the site are required before this becomes a reality.

The site is developed using valid XHTML and cascading style sheets (CSS) which are screen reader friendly and make the site accessible to more of our citizens. Our site content is separated from presentational elements, which makes it available to any visitors that use technologies such as a screen reader or text only browser.

Accessible web sites prioritise clear content, structure and ease of navigation over visual aspects of design, however they also need not be visually unattractive, nor are they prevented from using the latest web technologies, provided that all information is still accessible to users.

Setting text size

To resize the text, please see your browser’s documentation. As a quick tip (may not always work):

• On most modern browsers, if you are using a mouse with a wheel, you can press ctrl on your keyboard while you scroll with the mouse wheel, up and down.

• On modern browsers you can sometimes use ctrl+ or ctrl- for the same effect

• Mac users can try the Command key instead of ctrl.

• In Internet Explorer: Select the 'View' menu (at the top of the screen), and select one of the options under 'Text Size'. The default setting is Medium.

• In Mozilla Firefox: Select the 'View' menu, then select Increase, Decrease or Normal.

• In Opera: Select the 'View' menu, then one of the 'Zoom' percentage options.

• In Netscape: Select the 'View' menu, then one of the 'Text Zoom' options.

The Wexford Local Authorities is committed to providing information and services that are fully accessible to all. The site is designed in accordance with the W3C WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and conforms to most priority 1,2 checkpoints. A list of outstanding issues is set out below.

All new content published to the site is published in accessible HTML. If you require information in an alternative format please contact us at postmaster@wexfordcoco.ie or phone us at (053-91) 76500.

For help with using the site and its various accessibility features refer to this page on the NDA website Help for users with disability page.

Technical features

Access keys

The following access keys are used on the website:

• Skip Navigation (S)

• Search (4)

Known issues

The site is designed in accordance with priority 1, 2, of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the Irish National Disability Authority Guidelines for Web Accessibility. For example, the website uses cascading style sheets for visual layout. This ensures that content is perfectly linearised and improves performance on a wide range of browsers and other user agents.

Pages are designed to validate as DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional. There are a number of remaining validation errors, but work is ongoing to fix these.

Maintaining accessibility

The WLA is committed to maintaining and monitoring the accessibility of this website. The site is audited at regular intervals; in March 2007 an accessibility audit was carried out on the site. The next audit is scheduled for Winter 2007.

To help deliver and maintain accessible website The WLA use a CMS that incorporates accesabillity featurs. They also have had training for internal employees and published internal guidelines to guide web administrators and authors in the creation of accessible web content.

These guidelines cover issues such as

• Creating user friendly web content

• Writing meaningful alternative text

• Creating accessible tables

• Creating accessible forms

• Creating accessible link phrases

Please let us know if you encounter any problems. You may email the webmaster Page last updated: 17/06/2007