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Text Only / Low Vision Option

Accessibility

It is the policy of the School to make all web-based information and web sites accessible to all users regardless of disability.

The School requires that all new web content conforms to the University WWW Advisory Board Code of Practice, and that web content is periodically updated in order to make web sites compliant with these guidelines.

Please email the content manager for more information, help, or advice if you experience any difficulty or need documents in another format.

The University of Bradford is committed to making its Web site accessible. To this end, the World Wide Web Advisory Board has developed a Code of Practice for Web based materials. The University also offers staff a comprehensive training programme.

If we can make our Web based information more accessible to you, please e-mail your suggestions to suggestions@bradford.ac.uk.

Contents:

Low vision/text only

Many of the University's Web pages carry a low vision/text only link. These use the BBC Education Text to Speech Internet Enhancer ( Betsie ) to provide a textual representation of a graphically based page. It also offers facilities to change the font/background displays.

Access keys

Access keys are keyboard shortcut keys that enable users to access areas of the page or Web site using the assigned character on the keyboard rather than using a mouse to click on links, buttons etc. Another key may need to be pressed at the same time as the access key to make it work (eg in Internet Explorer ALT and the access key need to be pressed).

The following access keys are common to all University Web pages:

  • 0 - Accesskey definition page,
  • 1 - Home (with a view that this will take users through the various levels eventually back to the University's home page; however, the design of some sites may prohibit the latter.)
  • 2 - Search,
  • 3 - Low vision/text only.

The following additional access keys are available on the University's top-level internal pages using Internet Explorer:

  • r - Research
  • l - Learning & teaching
  • i - Staff support
  • p - Student support
  • c - Campus services
  • o - Resources
  • n - Contacts directory
  • s - School links
  • q - Quick links
  • 0 - Accessibility and Access keys
  • 4 - Change colours
  • 5 - Apply style changes

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Change font size or style

Most Web browsers allow you to increase/decrease the font size or choose a different font style providing the page is written to allow scaling of fonts. The University's supported Web browser is Internet Explorer v6 and v7. With this browser, you can increase/decrease the size of the font by:

  1. opening the View menu (Alt+V),
  2. choosing Text Size (X), and then
  3. selecting your required option from Largest through to Smallest.

To change the font style:

  1. open the Tools menu (Alt+T),
  2. choose Internet Options (O),
  3. select the General tab, and then
  4. click on Fonts

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Change colours

On the University's internal home page and various others, there are three colour options:

  • Black - displays yellow text on a black background.
  • Blue - displays white text on a blue background.
  • Cream - displays back text on a cream background.

Cookies must be enabled in order to use these. The Cookie stores your preferences on your computer; it does not hold any personal data.

For other pages, you can set colour preferences in Internet Explorer by:

  1. opening the Tools menu (Alt+T),
  2. choosing Internet Options (O),
  3. selecting the General tab, and then
  4. clicking on Colors

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Viewers

If you work from off campus using your own computer, you may not have the software supported by the University available. There are, however, viewers/readers that you can download and install to enable you to view the files. These might be particularly helpful for students accessing Blackboard course materials.

From September 2007, all public cluster PCs will have Microsoft Office 2007 installed. Staff who use earlier versions of Microsoft Office can download the Office 2007 File Compatibility Pack, via Start menu - UoB Apps - Application Installers (if the department is supported by IT-Services). Otherwise it can be downloaded from http://www.office.microsoft.com/.

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PC Clusters

All Learner Support PC clusters have at least one computer with a larger screen for visually impaired users. All the computers have the standard Microsoft Windows XP Accessibility features enabled. In addition, a number of useful software packages can be found in the Disabled Users folder on the start menu of PCs. We also have a document - Accessibility Options in Windows XP and PC Clusters - that describes how to set up the accessibility features available in Windows XP. It also covers some specific software installed on Learner Support Services PC clusters that may assist those with disabilities.

Learner Support Services outline the Accessibility facilities they have available to help you use their services; these include physical access, information and assistance, services such as photocopying, and special equipment.

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Blackboard

Some students have experienced difficulties opening, reading and printing files from Blackboard. The viewers outlined above should help to resolve issues concerned with opening files, although opening large file sizes over a relatively slow Internet connection may still be a factor.

Opening Blackboard links to files in a new window rather than within the Blackboard window offers more flexibility for reading and printing files. To do this:

  1. Click on the link with the right (not the left) mouse button;
  2. Choose open in a new window from the shortcut menu.

You can then:

  • print the file in the usual manner - see our Printing Guides for details.
  • use the Word menu bar to zoom in text (View menu - Zoom), display the document map (View menu - Document map) for quick navigation, change the background colour (Format menu - Background) or use the reading layout (View menu - Reading layout).
  • use the Adobe Acrobat menu bar to zoom in.

If you require documents in a specialised format, make sure you tell your tutor at the start of your module

We are also taking steps to promote good practice in producing online documents; the following documents help with this:

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Documentation

Learner Support Services provides a variety of IT accessibility documentation to help users.

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Disability Office

The Disability Office can provide more specialist help and equipment, and will do their best to ensure that you receive the advice, information and support disabled staff and students require.