Accessibility Guide
Font Sizes | High Contrast Schemes | Access Keys | Finding Your Location | Alternative Text
Thistle Help fully supports the concept of an 'Accessible Internet for All'. We have designed our website to incorporate a number of accessibility features with this concept in mind, and in line with the guidelines of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. If you experience any difficulties in accessing our website, please contact us to let us know.
Font sizes
All pages on the site are designed with fully resizable fonts. These fonts have been specifically chosen for their legibility on computer screens.
Two quick methods for changing font sizes have been incorporated into the site's pages.
- Simply click the [A+] or [A-] links on the 'Change text size' bar below the Main Navigation bar; A+ will Increase font size, A- will Decrease font size. (note: requires Javascript enabled in user's browser)
- Access keys: Access key to Increase font size is X. Access key to Decrease font size is Z.
Find out more about Access keys below.
Users may also change font sizes using the settings in their browser:
For Microsoft Internet Explorer: from the Main Menu, select View > Text size followed by your preferred text size from 'Smallest' to 'Largest'. The default setting is 'Medium'.
For Mozilla Firefox: from the Main Menu, select View > Text size followed by 'Increase' or 'Decrease'. To return the text size to its default setting, select 'Normal'.
Users with a mouse with a scroll wheel can achieve the same effect by scrolling the wheel up or down whilst pressing down the Ctrl key on the keyboard.
High contrast colour schemes
Coming soon.
Access keys
Access keys enable you to get around the site using your keyboard.
All the main pages of the site are accessible using Access keys. Links with an Access key are shown with an underscored letter. For example, the Products page link is shown as 'Products'; i.e., the Access key for the Products page is P. The Access key for these links is also shown whenever the user hovers over the link.
All the Main sections of the site can be accessed using Access keys. Font Size can also be increased or decreased using an Access key.
Main Access Keys:
- 1 - Home Page
- C - Contact Us
- X - Increase Text
- Z - Decrease Text
- A - Accessibility Guide (this page)
- S - Go straight to page content (*skips navigation)
*Skip navigation options
Using the S Access key enables users of non visual browsers to skip all the navigation links on the page and go straight to the main content.
More in depth information about access keys can be found at W3C Accessibility Guidelines.
How to use Access Keys:
Internet Explorer 6+ (PC)
Hold down the ALT key, press the number or letter of the access key, release both keys then press ENTER.
Internet Explorer 5+ (Mac)
Hold down the CTRL key and press the number or letter of the access key.
Netscape 7 (PC)
Hold down the ALT key and press the number or letter of the access key.
Mozilla/Firefox < 2.0 (PC)
Hold down the ALT key and press the number or letter of the access key.
Mozilla/Firefox 2.0+(PC)
Hold down the ALT and SHIFT keys and press the number or letter of the access key.
Mozilla (Mac)
Hold down the CTRL key and press the number or letter of the access key.
Safari (Mac)
Hold down the CTRL key and press the number or letter of the access key.
Finding your current location
Their are two ways a user can find their current location on the site at any given time.
- On either the main horizontal navigation bar or, when in a subsection of the site, the vertical navigation bar, the current page link will always show as permanently highlighted.
- Below the main navigation bar is the 'You are here' bar; sometimes known as the 'Breadcrumbs' bar. This gives the user a textual representation of their current location in the site.
For example, "Home > Mobility > Walking Sticks " indicates that the user is on the 'Walking Sticks' product page in the 'Mobility' products section of the site.
The background on the Mobility link on the vertical navigation bar will be highlighted.
Alt text
All of the images on this site have been given an alternative text attribute, often known as 'alt text'.
Alt text is used to convey textual information about the contents of an image. Images with an alt text attribute can be understood by text browsers and assistive technologies such as screen readers. Any images used for decoration only carry no alt text; for example, the background images used in the header and footer of this page when using the default colour scheme.
