
This website is run by the Office for Disability Issues.
The Office for Disability Issues is committed to making this website as easy to use for as many people as possible. We want you to access all information regardless of ways you use the internet.
The website has been designed to provide you with an enjoyable interactive experience, as well as being inclusive and accessible to all users.
The website's objective is to conform to the guidelines for UK government websites, which support the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, Level AA, to ensure a Web accessibility standards have been achieved and are maintained.
Read about:
Many features on the ODI website are designed to make it easier for you to find what you want:
On the homepage, you can access information in a range of alternative formats. Information is available in British Sign language (BSL), audio and easy read.
Links have `title' attributes which describe the destination of the link in greater detail. Title attributes are not included if the link already fully describes the where the link goes to; for example, the headline of a news story.
Wherever possible links are written to make sense out of context, so that you do not have to read the surrounding text to understand where the link will take you.
You will always be warned if clicking on a link opens a file or website in a new browser window. The warning is either contained in the link itself, the title attribute or in the text immediately after the link.
All graphics and images on the website have an alternative text attribute that describes the contents or function of the image. This description will be displayed when images are turned off, on a text-only browser or as a `tool tip' in certain browsers when the mouse pointer is moved over the image.
A number of elements have been included in the design of the website to make it easier for everyone to use:
If you have more specialised needs read more help with accessibility. This page tells you how to change the colour of the text, change the colour of the background and how to remove images.
To change the text size:
The Apple Mac operating system includes many accessibility options including resizing text, text-to-speech and keyboard alternatives to mouse functions.
For full details visit the Apple website's section on accessibility.
This site uses PDF files to display certain documents. If your screenreader software (for example an audio-enabled web browser) is not compatible with the free Adobe Reader, Adobe provides a free online tool which converts the content of PDF files to a format which can be understood by most screen reader applications.
For more information, and full details of how to use this tool, visit: the Adobe website (links to Adobe website).
We have used government standard access keys, where they apply to this site. These are to help you navigate through the main areas of a website using keyboard shortcuts.
Press the Alt key and the access key number or letter below. Then press Enter.
Press the Ctrl key and the access key number or letter below.
Access keys on this website:
If you are having technical difficulties while using our website, the site does not appear to working properly or you find broken links, please email office-for-disability-issues@dwp.gsi.gov.uk with a description of the problem, thank you.