Website accessibility statement
The Definitely Baby website has been carefully designed very much with accessibility issues in mind. Every effort has been made to ensure that as many visitors as possible are able to access and use it, regardless of differing abilities or technologies used.
Testing
The Definitely Baby website has been thoroughly tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and we are confident that it meets at least the minimum requirements (Priority 1) as well as the majority of Priority 2 & 3.
In addition, compatibility of the site has been tested with a number of popular browsers.
List of browsers tested
- Internet Explorer for Windows (v 6.0)
- Mozilla Firefox for Windows (v 1.5)
- Mozilla Firefox for Macintosh (v 1.0)
- Netscape for Windows (v 8.1)
- Opera for Windows (v. 8.51)
- Opera for Macintosh (v 7.54)
- IBM Home Page Reader for Windows (v 3.02)
- Safari for Macintosh (v 1.0)
A note about browsers and testing
Pages may look slightly different from browser to browser (for example, text displayed on Apple Macintosh browsers appears softer than that on its PC counterpart) but the overall design, layout and features and functionality is the same throughout.
N.B: Note that Internet Explorer v 5.5 (or older) is not included in our list of browsers tested for compatibilty. This is dies to Microsoft's recent decision to withdraw support for the browser version.
Screen readers
The Definitely Baby website has been very carefully constructed and tuned to work with IBM Page Reader (v 3.02) and various elements have been added to help the visually impaired user as much as is possible during their visit.
All features have been tested practically with IBM Page Reader (v 3.02).
Navigating the site without a mouse
Mouseless visitors will find that they can navigate between pages by simply using the TAB key on their keyboard, links can be followed by hitting the ENTER key.
Entry fields in the various forms used on the site can also be 'tabbed' between. To submit a form, the mouseless visitor just needs to complete it and tab to the submit button at its foot, then hit ENTER.
More information about accessibility and forms used on the site is available later on this page.
Additionally, 'access keys' have been assigned (on all pages) to important sections of the site. These keys (supported by most modern browsers) provide quick access to important areas f the site.
More information specifically about access keys and how to use them follows.
Access keys
Many browsers now support the use of access keys on websites in order to 'jump' to important information quickly. This website has assigned access keys to a number of important pages (specific assignment as recommended by the UK Government).
To access any of these specific pages, visitors with Windows-based browsers (such as later versions of Internet Explorer for Windows) should be able to hit the relevant letter or number (as indicated below) on their keyboard whilst holding down their <ALT> key (with some browsers, this action may have to be followed by the ENTER key). Macintosh users should find that holding down the CONTROL key on their keyboards whilst pressing one of the access keys listed below will produce the same effect.
Access keys used on this site
- ALT or CONTROL + S - Skip to main content of page
- ALT or CONTROL + 0 - Accessibility statement (this page)
- ALT or CONTROL + 1 - Home page
- ALT or CONTROL + 3 - Site map page
- ALT or CONTROL + 5 - Frequently asked questions page
- ALT or CONTROL + 8 - Terms and conditions page
- ALT or CONTROL + 9 - Contact details page (includes link to enquiry form)
Using the forms on this site
To make accessing and using the various forms on this site as easy as we can for as many visitors as we can, we have used both field focus and field labels. Visitors will also find that each field in the form can be 'tabbed' to (as can the submit button) negating the need for a mouse.
Field focus highlights the entry fields (feature not available in Internet Explorer) with a contrasting border and background colour as they are tabbed or clicked into.
Field labels are applied to each field name (e.g. 'Name:') allowing them to be simply clicked on (with a mouse) in order to access the entry field itself.
Acronyms and abbreviations
Where an acronym or abbreviation is used on the Definitely Baby website (and its definition uncommon) tool tips have been employed to offer explanation. Look for text underlined with dashes (red) and hover over it with a mouse (if in use) to view its meaning or uncover a related instruction.
Scripts and plugins
Client-side scripts (such as Javascript) have been avoided as much as is possible, meaning that majority of this site can be navigated and used even with scripting capabilities disabled or unavailable in the browser (perhaps for security reasons). However, some aspects of functionality within the shop do use client-side scripting and its absence within the visitors' browser may affect enjoyment and full use of the feaures available.
Plugins (such as Macromedia Flash) are entirely absent, on the other hand, so visitors will not be required to download additional software in order to view any portion of the website.
Pop-up or spawned browser windows
The Definitely Baby website does not 'spawn' additional browser windows randomly or without visitor interaction (such as in the case of unsolicited advertising 'pop-ups' seen on some sites).
However, larger product images are presented in a new or 'pop-up' window with the Definitely Baby product page as the 'parent' still underneath. Therefore, to return to the Definitely Baby website, the visitor needs only to exit the additional window (a 'close' link is provided).
The visitor is always informed where new windows are used in this way.
Images
All images used on this site have either alt tags or title tags (sometimes both) employed in order to provide an appropriate description of the image (or function behind it, in the case of images used as links) for those visitors with graphics switched off in their browsers or for those visually impaired visitors using screen readers.
The exception to this rule is in the case of images used for layout purposes only, as these offer no useful data to the visitor.
Styles, text and layouts
The overall layout for pages on this site has been created in XHTML 1.0 Transitional and uses divs rather that tables to control positioning of elements.
External stylesheets are employed to control page / text etc style, colours and positioning. If stylesheets are disabled in the browser, pages are still readable and fully functioning.
For the visually impaired, text sizes on this site can be increased or decreased at will by simply holding down the CTRL key on the keyboard and scrolling backwards or forwards with the wheel on a wheel equipped mouse. For users without such equipment, the same effect can be achieved by using the web browser's own text size adjustment features.
Printing
All pages are printer friendly and should print without issue on standard A4 paper. Even though the design on screen is obviously in a landscape format, visitors have no need to change the page orientation in their print set up. All pages should print in portrait format.
Please note that, in order to facilitate A4 portrait paper printing, print-outs will be predominantly textual. Navigation and background / design images will be removed (although body images will remain).
