accessibility
this page outlines the access keys in use on the site and the level of accessibility tested. if you have any problems accessing a particular area of the site please let us know.
navigation shortcuts
we have structured our new site so that the tab key can be used to navigate between all the page links in a logical order down the page. use Shift + tab to cycle in reverse order up the page. once you are on the link you wish to follow, use the enter key to visit that page. each of the main navigation links also has it's own access key assigned to it.
depending on the type of browser you are using, below is how to activate an accesskey:
- Internet Explorer 5+: Hold down the Alt key and select the letter of the access key, then press Enter.
- Mozilla/Firefox: Hold down the Alt key and select the letter of the access key.
- Opera: Make sure access keys are enabled by pressing Shift + Esc, then hold down the Ctrl + Alt keys and select the letter of the access key.
- Internet Explorer 4: Hold down the Alt key and select the letter of the access key.
- Internet Explorer 5+ for Mac: Hold down the Ctrl key and select the letter of the access key
- Internet Explorer 4.5 for Mac: Access keys are not supported.
- Netscape 6+: Hold down the Alt key and select the letter of the access key.
- Netscape earlier versions: Access keys are not supported.
access keys
our site makes use of accesskeys, allowing users to navigate the site without the aid of a mouse. these can be activated in different ways on dependent on the operating system/browser in use. on windows in internet explorer or mozilla-based browsers, press alt + an access key. on a mac, press control + an access key, then press enter to visit the link.
we chose the access keys on our website to follow the uk government website guidelines as closely as possible. below is a list of access keys used on this website:
- 2 - skip the navigation and jump straight to page content
- 1 - home
- a - about us
- w - what we do
- p - our portfolio
- n - news (nmblog)
- t - testimonials
- 9 - get in touch
- 0 - accessibility statement (this page)
structured, semantic markup
html heading tags have been used to convey the structure of each page. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles and so on.
navigation menus are marked up as html lists ensuring that the number of links in the list is read out at the start and it can be skipped easily.
images + multimedia content
all content images include a descriptive alt attribute. decorative images use a null alt value.
any flash or other multimedia content includes alternative versions of the content dependent, as you may not have the necessary plugin installed or have it disabled.
you can visit the macromedia site to download the flash player plugin.
standards compliance
we have designed to conform to comply with all the level a, level aa & level aaa automatic check points as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and endorsed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). the majority of manual check points have also been met throughout the site. as well as reading through these we also tested the site using the webxact (formerly known as bobby) service.
All pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict and make use of structured semantic markup.
alternative browsers
whilst we realise the majority of our visitors use internet explorer 6, there are alternative browsers available that could offer you a better browsing experience in a number of ways. below are links to their respective sites should you wish to read more about them:
our site is cross-browser compatible, accessible to users and search engines and we have tested in internet explorer 6, internet explorer 5.5, mozilla firefox, safari, netscape 7 and opera browsers for w3c standards compliance.