Website Team test new concept in accessibility

• BrowseAloud logo – the logo says BrowseAloud Look, Click, Listen. The logo includes a blue and black bullseye with a golden curser in the right bottom hand corner of the logo. .

For the next 21 days, the website has been “enabled” to have the text and picture tags, (alt tags) read to visitors to the site, after having downloaded a plug-in.

(instructions for downloading and installing are available – here.)

Why are we doing this?

We believe that the Internet should be accessible to as many people as possible – just like Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web inventor and a W3C director, who said:

"The power of the Internet is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

The website team are striving to improve the Fawley Parish Council website all the time, be it in design, content or accessibility, so that visitors to the site can be sure that Parish Council matters are open and available to all residents who have access to the Internet.

We are aware of the problems faced by some people reading the content of many websites, especially those where it is impossible to change the size of the font. Some people may have reading difficulties such as dyslexia, or a visual impairment, and those with learning difficulties.

By using the Browsealoud system, the visitor to the site is invited to download a FREE plug-in, to enable the Fawley Parish Council website as a “spoken website”.

There are other websites which are also using this system, which may be of interest to you, for example:

www.bbc.co.uk
www.google.co.uk .
www.yahoo.com
www.ccea.org.uk
www.edexcel.org.uk
www.abbey.com
www.nationwide.co.uk

We would very much welcome your thoughts about this additional service to Fawley Residents and visitors alike. Please take the time to let us know.