Accessibility

HMRC recognises the importance of providing a website that is accessible to all our user groups, including those with disabilities. Our accessibility standards are in place with the intention of making the content accessible to the widest range of visitors, regardless of disability or impairment. This has been achieved by adhering to best practices, such as compliance with W3C standards, and by careful reference to the standards set out by the eGovernment Unit.

Accessibility features on this website

The following features improve navigation for screen reader users, keyboard navigation and users of text only browsers.

• Access Keys
   
  Some browsers support jumping to specific links by typing keys defined on the web site. On Windows, you can press the 'alt' key and the access key; on Macintosh, you can press then 'ctrl' key and the access key.
   
  The pages on this website adhere to the recommended UK Government access keys standard:
  S. Skip Navigation
  1. Home
  8. Terms and Conditions
  0. Access Key Details
   
  
• All images used on this site include descriptive attributes. Purely decorative graphics include empty alt attributes.
   
  
• We have checked the site's font and background colour combination against the different colour blindness conditions and ensured that all information is still clear.
   
  
• Cascading style sheets (CSS) are used to set the colour and size of the text within each page. The formatting can be overridden:
  • in MS Explorer by selecting Tools - Internet Options - Accessibility
  • in Netscape / Firefox by selecting Edit - Preferences - Appearance - Fonts
  • alternatively select 'view' then 'text size' in your browser to adjust the size of the text

Standards compliance

This website meets all priority 1 and 2 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

• 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 Bobby to test for accessibility, it is just one aspect of our testing procedure. As a computer programme, the Bobby test is not a reliable as expert evaluation.