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Help

Access keys

The main utility links of this site and of the Guide to Accessible Web Design can be activated by typing certain specified key combinations. In Windows press ALT + the specified access key, on the Macintosh press Control + access key to jump directly to a certain page. In Internet Explorer 5 this only selects the link, you also have to press the return/enter key to activate it.

  • Firefox: ALT + SHIFT + (accesskey)
  • Mozilla / Seamonkey: ALT + (accesskey).
  • Opera: SHIFT + ESC gives you the list of available accesskeys.
  • Internet Explorer: ALT + (accesskey) selects the link. Press Enter to activate it.

The following access keys have been defined for this site :

  • 0 - Help
  • 1 - Home
  • 2 - Skip navigation
  • 3 - Contact details

...plus in the Guide to Accessible Web Design :

  • 4 - Accessibility Guide Homepage
  • 5 - Table of Contents / Sitemap
  • 6 - Definitions
  • 7 - Glossary

Take control of your browser

Don't like the colours on this site? Is the font size too large or too small?

This website has been designed so that you can take control over how it is displayed by changing the settings in your browser software.

Detailed instructions on how to change colour and font settings, turn off graphics or apply your own custom made style sheet can be found in the Evaluation section : User Control.

Terminology used in the Accessibility Guide

Opinions differ on the politically correct language for the issue of disability. No offense is intended through any of the rather inconsistent language throughout this guide. Feedback is, of course, encouraged.

The term screen reader is used throughout the Accessibility Guide as a general term for any type of software that will read content on the screen out loud to the user. Other terminology you might find is speech synthesizer or voice browser, which differ slightly in function and application.

Technical jargon is explained in the glossary.

Glossary links in the Accessibility Guide

Occasionally you might find a question mark in brackets after certain terms. Clicking on this will take you to the glossary, where the term is defined and explained in detail.

Example: Deprecated [?]

External links in the Accessibility Guide

External links, i.e. links that lead away from this guide to another website, are often marked by the 'Open in new window' icon after the link ([Open in new window icon]). Clicking directly on the text link will open the new page in the same window, clicking on the icon will open the link in a new browser window.

Opening the link in a new window might be a good idea when you want both the original page and the linked page open at the same time, maybe to be able to easily switch back to the instructions in the first window while following these instructions in the second window.

Example:

Click on the words 'BBC News' to open the link in the present browser window. You will have to use the back button in your browser menu to return to this Help page.

Click on the icon behind the text to open the link in a new window. The original window is still available underneath the new window.

Tip: In the Windows Operating System you can switch between several open browser windows by clicking on the item in the Windows taskbar or you can cycle through open applications and windows by holding down the ALT key (in some case CTRL) on your keyboard and pressing the TAB key until the right item is selected.

Apple Macintosh Users

Keyboard and mouse control on PC and Mac
PC Mac
Mouse right click control click
Mouse right click click and hold
Keyboard Ctrl Cmd/Apple