Accessibility
This page is about the visual accessibility of the Shire of Irwins website.
Visit disability access and inclusion for information about the Shires commitment to accessibility and inclusiveness in all of its activities.
What is accessibility?
Accessibility refers to ensuring that access to information is available to the widest possible audience as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
Accessibility is about making things usable to all people, whatever their age, ability or disability.
Accessibility compliance
The Shire of Irwin is committed to being an accessible and inclusive Shire. We strive to ensure that information published on this website is accessible to all users including older people as well as people with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments, and that the technology we use does not interfere or deny any user from accessing this information.
Our website has been designed in accordance with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) internationally recognised Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines. The WAI is a set of guidelines for producing usable and accessible websites. Detailed information can be found on the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) website.
Our website aims to conform to Level AA of the WCAG 2.1.
We recognise that some information on this website is not as accessible as it could be. Information and online accessibility is an ongoing process and we are continually working to improve the accessibility of this website. If you experience any accessibility problems with our website or with any of the information or documents contained within it please contact us. Also, see the disclaimer below.
Accessibility features
Responsive Design
We recognise there is a variety of devices that the community choose to connect with us. These include personal computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Our website is designed to respond to the type of device being used to view and interact with our website to then display in the most effective way.
Search
- the search tool at the top of every page;
- the navigation menu across the top of every page; and
- breadcrumb navigation allows browsers to keep track of their location within the website hierarchy. Breadcrumbs are displayed on the top of each web page in desktop and tablet mode
Readability
We make every effort to ensure this website is easy to read using ‘plain English’ wherever possible. Visually, we take care not to use all capitalised, small cap, or italicised text. Our text is styled only with sans serif font family, and with no kerning. The layout justification on our text headings and paragraphs are either left justified or centred, and never block or full justified across the page.
Navigation
This website allows full tab-based navigation:
- When you hold down on the menu item or hyperlink, press enter to activate
- Hold down the shift and tab keys to reverse the tab cycle
- At the top of each page there are options to skip to various areas of the page. This is to assist users of screen readers and those who are zooming in to view the website.
Increasing and decreasing text size
- Increase font size: Hold down the Ctrl key (Command key on a Macintosh) and press the + (plus) key.
- Decrease the font size: Hold down the Ctrl or Command key and pressing the - (minus) key.
Additionally, the Ctrl key (Command key on a Macintosh) and scroll the mouse centre wheel forward or backward, increases or decreases the font size. Both of these methods also work on PDF pages as well.
Also, you may find instructions on the Web Accessibility Initiative site to be helpful. If you are still unsuccessful, you might consider upgrading to the latest version of your browser.
Images
We ensure that titles, text, and alternative (alt) text is given for images and pictures on this website to provide screen readers users access to the information or what it conveys.
Hyperlinks
Wherever possible, hyperlinks contain descriptions of information found in the link’s destination. All internal links will open in the same window to improve usability for those with vision impairment. However, documents with external links will open in a new tab.
CSS
Cascading style sheets (CSS) are used to format page content on this site. This allows keyboard-only users to disable the formatting provided and apply their own formatting. Style sheets are disabled within an internet browser’s settings or preference options.
Keyboard navigation for links and form elements
In most browsers, you can use the ‘Tab’ key to move between links without having to use the mouse. When you are on a link you wish to visit, pressing ‘Enter’ will take you to the linked page.
If you are in a form, you can also use the ‘Tab’ key to move between form elements (such as text boxes and radio buttons). Where there are options, for example in a drop-down menu, you can use the arrow keys to select your desired option. When you want to submit or cancel a form, tab through to the relevant button and press the ‘Enter’ key.
Disclaimer
What is Asbestos?
The Shire is not responsible for third party applications or how they access the information on the irwin.wa.gov.au website, such as but not limited to, JAWS, NVDA, and ReadSpeaker screen readers, or other screen-reading software or devices.
PDFs
We are progressively optimising all of our Portable Document Format (PDF) documents and forms on this website to be made accessible and optimised for fast web use, in compliance with the WCAG 2.0 guidelines.
You will need Adobe Reader to open PDF files and it includes screen reading functionality. It can be downloaded at Adobe.comopens in a new window for free.
