Accessibility
Accessibility features on this website
Ernest Jones recognises the importance of providing a website that is accessible to all user groups, including the disabled.
The following features improve navigation for screen-reader users, keyboard navigation and users of text-only browsers.
Navigation shortcut
At the start of every page is a short menu that allows you to jump directly to the most important parts of the page, including main content and navigation. Each of these also has an access key associated with it.
Access keys
Access keys are keyboard shortcuts that replace the need to use the mouse for navigation in browsers that support them. In Internet Explorer on Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key. Then press Enter to activate the link.
The following access keys are available throughout the website:
- c - Jump to Content
- a - Jump to Account Navigation
- n - Jump to Additional Site Navigation
- 0 - Jump to Accessibility Statement
Standards Compliance
Our pages conform at a minimum to Level A compliance as specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and endorsed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The majority of Level AA and AAA requirements are also met.
We strive to obey the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995 with respect to the provision of services online, as required by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).
While we use WebXACT to test for accessibility, it is just one aspect of our testing procedure. As a computer programme, the Bobby test is not as reliable as expert evaluation. Pages are also tested in the following screen readers: Jaws for Windows and IBM Homepage Reader.
All pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional and use structured semantic markup.
The CSS also validates.
Structured, semantic markup: Headings and navigation menus
- HTML heading tags are used to convey document structure. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles, and so on. For example, on this page, JAWS users can skip to the next section within the accessibility statement by pressing ALT+INSERT+2.
- Navigation menus are marked up as HTML lists. This ensures that the number of links in the list is read out at the start and it can be skipped easily.
Images
All content images used in this site include descriptive alt attributes. Purely decorative graphics include empty alt attributes.
Colours
We have checked the site's font and background colour combinations against the different colour blindness conditions and ensured that all information is still clear.
Font sizes
You may change the font size of this document to your preference through your browser:
- In Internet Explorer, select View, then Text Size, and then your preferred size.
- In Netscape select View, then Text Zoom, and then your preferred percentage size.
Style sheets
This site uses cascading style sheets for visual layout. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the use of structured semantic markup ensures that the content of each page is still readable and clearly structured.
Tables
All tables have properly scoped header cells, to allow screen readers to render them intelligently. Where required, tables also have a caption and a summary.
Tables are not used for layout.
Forms
All forms follow a logical Tab sequence.
Labels are associated with fields using HTML label tags.
Scripting
While JavaScript is used frequently on the site to improve usability, all pages and processes are still accessible and usable if JavaScript is not available.
Links
Linking text has been written to make sense out of context.
Where appropriate, links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, for example to advise you if the link will open in a new window.