Accessibility and Usability

We are committed to making our websites as accessible as possible to all users, including people with disabilities.

We do this not just to meet legal requirements but because we are committed to fostering learning for all adults, throughout Scotland, regardless of location, socio-economic status, employment, disability, age, gender, religion and ethnicity.

For this reason, this site has been constructed in line with good accessibility practice wherever possible.

UK legislation requires websites to be accessible, but does not specify a standard for accessibility. Our aim is to meet the World Wide Web Consortium’s internationally-recognised Web accessibility guidelines at level AA, and to meet as many level AAA requirements as possible. (See the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative site for details).

If you encounter any accessibility problems when using this site, or have any suggestions about how to improve its accessibility, please e-mail us at info@learndirectscotland.com

Access keys

Modern browsers support the use of access keys to allow people who have difficulty using a mouse to make full use of enabled web sites. The list below shows the access keys provided on our site.

• 0 - my account
• 1-9 - top level menu items (1 = home page)
• a - accessibility
• m - site map
• x - normal font size
• y - medium font size
• z - large font size
• h - toggle high contrast
• l - log in/out
• s - search
• f - feedback
• c - skip to content
• n - also in this section
• e - email page
• p - alert me
• b - course basket
• g - move to first/next field grouping in the content
• tab - move to next control
• shift+tab - move to previous control
• enter - press button or navigate through link

Usability

Validation of HTML
1.The HTML code of this site validates to the relevant Document Type (W3C) and is created using current recommended standards.

2.This site uses CSS for all design elements such as colour, borders etc.

3.This HTML code is well-structured and should be visible in any browser that cannot display images and visual styles.

4.Adisable CSS link is provided for browsers such as PDAs (PersonalDigital Assistants) or for browsers that cannot disable the site design

5.All pages on this site meet all WAI Guidelines at Priority Level 1 and Priority Level 2.

6.Access keys are not used on this site for the following reasons;

• they are not widely supported in modern browsers
• there are no current standard access keys which may confuse users
• they may cause problems with shortcut keys in certain operating systems.