Accessibility
The layout of the site takes into account users who are visually impaired or have difficulties using a mouse. It is fully compatible with popular screen reading software, and you can navigate it using just a keyboard.
We have tried to make this site meet the W3C AA accessibility standards wherever possible.
Browsers supported by the site
The site supports the following browsers:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 or above
- Apple Safari 4.0 or above
- Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or above
- Opera 9.5 or above
- Google Chrome 2.0 or above
Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers
The pages will display all content and clients should be able to perform all required actions on the site.
Non-Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers
The pages will display all content but may have some minor format or presentation differences from Internet Explorer. Clients should be able to perform all required actions on the site.
Screen reader software
The site supports the following screen reader software:
- ZoomText (screen magnification) assistive technology
- SuperNova (screen magnification and screen reading) assistive technology
- Jaws (Screen reading) assistive technology
Speech recognition software
The site supports the following speech recognition software:
- Dragon (voice recognition) assistive technology
This screen reader software and speech recognition software will work best on Internet Explorer
Access keys
Access keys are shortcuts to provide quick and easy access to common pages without the need for a mouse. We've included them to help users with disabilities navigate around the website.
Access keys are available for the menu at the top of the screen and several other important pages.
In Internet Explorer
Hold down the Alt key and press the key shown below. This should be followed by Return / Enter .
In Mozilla Firefox
Hold down the Shift and Alt keys (Or just the Ctrl key if you're using a Mac) and press the key shown below.
In Safari
Hold down the Ctrl key (or the Alt key if you're using Windows) and press the key shown below.
In Opera
Hold down the Shift and Esc keys. When the pop up window appears, release Shift and Esc and then press the key shown below.
In Chrome
Hold down the Alt key (or the Ctrl and Opt keys if you're using a Mac) and press the key shown below.
1 = Home Page
3 = Site map
6 = Help
8 = Terms & conditions
N = Skip to navigation
O = Contact Us
S = Skip to content
P = My payments
C = My cases
M = My messages
U = My details
Using the calendar
You can use keyboard shortcuts to access the calendar
- Page up / down - previous / next month
- Ctrl + page up / down - previous / next year
- Ctrl + home - current month or open when closed
- Ctrl + left/right - previous / next day
- Ctrl + up/down - previous / next week
- Enter - accept the selected date
- Ctrl + end - close and erase the date
- Escape - close the calendar without selecting a date
Changing text size
Some users might find the site easier to read by changing the size of the text. You can click on 'Bigger text' or 'Smaller text' at the top right of the screen, or use your keyboard to change the size of text in your browser.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Making text bigger or smaller
- While holding down the Alt key, press V
- Press X
- Select one of the preset text sizes by using either Up Arrow or Down Arrow key and pressing Return / Enter
Firefox, Safari and Chrome
Making text bigger - Press + while holding down the Control key.
Making text smaller - Press - while holding down the Control key.
Opera
Making text bigger - Press + while holding down the Shift or Control key.
Making text smaller - Press - while holding down the Shift or Control key.
Information in other formats
You can request Braille or large print versions of all correspondence, forms and leaflets. We also have versions of standard leaflets on audio tape, CD and DVD.
We have a dedicated textphone number - see the contact us. page for more details of this service. We also provide spoken language interpretation services for face-to-face and telephone communications.