We understand the importance of website accessibility and strive to make our website accessible to everyone, including those with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments. On this page, we highlight some tools that people can use to make our website accessible for their needs.
Screen readers
Screen readers are software programs that read the text on a website aloud, allowing people with visual impairments to access web content. They use text-to-speech technology to convert the text on a webpage into spoken words. Popular screen readers include:
- JAWS (Job Access With Speech)
- NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) – this is free
- VoiceOver (for Apple devices)
Users can navigate through the website using keyboard commands or touch gestures, and the screen reader will read out the content, including headings, links, and other elements.
Resizing text
Many people with visual impairments have difficulty reading small text. Therefore, our website allows users to resize the text to suit their preferences. Users can do this by adjusting the text size settings in their web browser. Typically, this can be done through the browser’s settings or by using keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+ or Ctrl- (Windows) or Command+ or Command- (Mac) to zoom in or out on the text.
Contrast adjustments
Some people with visual impairments have difficulty reading text that is presented with low contrast. Therefore, our website uses a colour scheme that provides sufficient contrast between the text and background to make it easier to read. Users can also adjust the contrast settings in their web browser or use browser extensions that allow them to customise the colour contrast according to their needs.
Alternative text (alt text)
We strive to provide meaningful alternative text (alt text) for all images on our website. Alt text is a brief description of an image that is displayed when the image cannot be loaded, and it can be read by screen readers. This allows people with visual impairments to understand the content of the image even if they cannot see it.
Keyboard navigation
Our website is designed to be navigable using a keyboard alone, without the need for a mouse or other pointing device. This allows people with motor impairments or mobility limitations to access the website easily. Users can navigate through links, buttons, and form fields using the tab key and activate them using the enter key.
Video captions
We provide captions for videos on our website to make them accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Captions are text versions of the audio content that are displayed on the video (could add if we ever want to do transcripts: and transcripts are written versions of the audio content that can be read by screen readers).
If you encounter any issues with accessing our website or have suggestions for improving its accessibility, please contact us at digitalteam@dementiauk.org. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility of our website and ensure that it is inclusive to all individuals, regardless of their abilities or disabilties.