The Healthcare Commission's website is built to meet W3C A standards for accessibility. This involves using clear labelling so users know where a link or button is taking them and the type and size of documents they are downloading. We have also used a clear design that takes account of people with visual impairments.

We have attempted to use plain English throughout the site to increase accessibility. The technical documents that healthcare organisations will need to use have been grouped in a specific section, which is aimed at them rather than at the general public.

PDF files

Many of our reports are currently only available as PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Find out more about PDF files and how to access them.

Text size

You can increase the size of the text on our web pages by reconfiguring your web browser, as follows: Select 'View' in your browser menu, then 'select text size/larger' or 'increase font'.

Colour

We do not use colour to convey vital information.

Images

All relevant images have text descriptions explaining what the image is about. This description will be read out by screen readers, and will be displayed if you hover your cursor over the image.

External links

All links to other websites will open up a new browser window. (Relevant links state that they will open in a new window). To return to the Healthcare Commission's website after following an external link, you would need to close the new browser window.

Navigating without a mouse

• You may use the 'arrow' keys to scroll up and down a page.
• You may also use the 'tab' key to move from one link to the next, in sequence, then press the 'return' or 'enter' key to select a link.
• You may use the 'backspace' key to go back to the previous page.

Defined access keys