Our aim is to make our website as accessible as possible to the widest range of people. This means considering the specific needs of not only those with visual or motor impairments, learning difficulties and other forms of disability, but also different browser technology and Internet connection speeds.
To this end, we have endeavoured to comply with the most widely accepted guidelines for the construction of accessible web sites specified by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Their Website Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines three levels of accessibility, each progressively more demanding. The most basic level of accessibility is Priority 1 (level A compliance) followed by Priority 2 and 3 (levels AA and AAA).
This site complies with all Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints and where possible Priority 3. We are aware however, that a number of the checkpoints are subjective and there may be instances where interpretation may vary.
Web Standards
This website has been designed to industry standards, using cascading stylesheets (CSS) and validates as pair the relevant specifications. You can find more information about web standards on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website.
Where possible WAI-ARIA roles have been used to help assistive technologies in interpreting the content of this website.
Need help reading our website? No problem
We’ve added the ReachDeck Toolbar to our site. If you struggle with reading, have a visual impairment, or prefer to read in your own language, the ReachDeck Toolbar can help.
Try it out for yourself...
Click on the blue ‘speak’ button that you can see in the header of all our website pages. This will launch the ReachDeck Toolbar. You’ll see it dock to the top of your screen. Now click on the first ‘pointed finger’ icon on that toolbar and hover your mouse pointer over any text on our site to hear it read out loud.
How does the ReachDeck Toolbar help?
The ReachDeck Toolbar will help you to read and translate the content on our website. Its features include:
- Text-to-speech: click on or select any text to hear it read aloud
- Translation: translate content into over 100 languages
- Text magnification: enlarge text and hear it read out loud
- MP3 generation: convert selected text into an MP3 audio file
- Screen mask: reduce glare with a tinted mask
- Web page simplifier: remove clutter from the screen. Display only the main text
- Picture dictionary: displays pictures related to text selected on the page
Need support? Texthelp has you covered.
Head over to Texthelp’s dedicated Support Site to find lots of useful articles on ReachDeck.
Searching the website
There are a number of ways you search this site for information:
- Search Form – located in the top left of every page, this will allow you to search by keyword.
- Site Map – located in the footer this will give you a complete overview of every page on the site.
Accessible Information Standard
Do you, or someone you care for, have a disability and need help to allow you to communicate with hospital staff or to read the letters we send to you?
We can provide information for you in many different formats….you just need to tell us what your needs are.
You can tell us what additional communication support you need by:
- Informing a member of the appointments team when you are booking an appointment with us
- Informing reception staff when you arrive in clinic or the Emergency Department
- By telling the receptionist or nursing staff when you visit the hospital.
Other support and reasonable adjustments we can make
The below video is an example of some of the adjustments we can support to make an individual's experience easier and more comfortable.