Accessibility
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CBRD has been built from the ground up to be accessible to as many people as possible. This page explains what special features exist for users of non-visual browsers, screenreaders and mobile devices, and how those features can be put to use by those with visual browsers.
Shortcut keys
"Access keys" have been assigned to each of the links on the main menu to allow faster access. There are also two links above the main menu which are hidden in visual browsers; these also have access keys.
| Key | Link |
|---|---|
| 0 | Home page (zero) |
| Q | British Roads FAQ (Q for Questions) |
| M | Motorway Database |
| R | Reference |
| F | Futures |
| H | Histories |
| D | In Depth |
| J | Bad Junctions |
| B | People (B for Biography) |
| C | The Great C-Road Hunt |
| P | Media (P for Photos) |
| S | Simulator |
| L | Links |
| I | Site Info (I for Info) |
| E | Contact (E for Email) |
| X | Skips navigation and jumps directly to page content |
| A | Accessibility information (this page) |
Access keys were designed for users who have difficulty pointing-and-clicking, but many users can make use of them for faster navigation as most conventional browsers now support their use. Try pressing Alt and one of the keys.
Links
Links to other websites no longer open in a new window. Additionally, if the link text itself does not make the other website perfectly obvious, you can hover the mouse over the link to see more information. Here's an example.
You can also hover over many internal links to find out more. Try this on the main navigation bar on this page.
Abbreviations
Wherever possible, technical terms, abbreviations and acronyms are avoided to make CBRD as easy to read as possible. However, they do crop up occasionally. Now you can get instant clarification: hover the mouse pointer over any word underlined with grey dashes to see its meaning. Try it out on this abbr. or this TLA.
Stylesheets
Most users, using a conventional browser on a computer, will view CBRD with its stylesheet, giving the page its background images, colours and layout. The site has now been designed to degrade more gracefully for those who cannot or do not use stylesheets: users of text-based browsers, screen readers or mobile devices will now find it much easier to view the site.
Additionally, there's a middle option: if your browser allows you to select stylesheets, you can choose the "CBRD Basic" option, with a more traditional easy-to-read look (bold headings, full size text etc.).
Users of some browsers (such as Mozilla Firefox) can opt to turn off the stylesheet to improve download times or legibility. CBRD recommends Firefox to view the site.
Inaccessible pages
While every effort has been made to permit all visitors to access CBRD, no matter how they view the internet, some parts of the site are rendered inaccessible by their content. They are as follows:
- The Simulator uses images to recreate the route of a number of roads. It is rather pointless, as well as difficult, to try to use this if you cannot see the images.
- Likewise, the Motorway Database pages contain exit lists which are rendered using a complex HTML table that is both time-consuming and nonsensical in a non-visual browser. However, there is other useful content on the Motorway Database pages which occurs before the exit list and which is readily accessible to all users.
- One section in Histories on the subject of Pedestrian Crossings uses Macromedia Flash animations in pop-up windows. These are only suitable for users of visual browsers. However, they remain supplementary and are not necessary to understand the article.
- Finally, occasional use is made of Adobe PDF files as wrappers for series of images - such as, for example, the scanned pages of a booklet. No PDF file on this site will contain anything suitable for non-visual browsers.
Feedback
I'm very interested in your ideas for improving CBRD's accessibility. If you have any comments, please let me know.
