accessibility statement

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is committed to providing information and services, which are fully accessible to all of our customers. The aim with the website is to make it as accessible as possible regardless of the ability or disability of the user. Good design improves access for all users. It has been designed in accordance with the WC3 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It conforms to most of the priority 1, 2 and 3 checkpoints subject to some clarifications as outlined below.

Website Design

The website was developed using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets, which are screen reader friendly and more accessible. It has been designed in a manner that avoids clutter and provides a consistent navigation style. The use of colour, breadcrumbs and links to the main thematic areas on each page allows for easier navigation.

The website content is separated from the presentational elements, which makes it available to visitors using technologies such as screen readers.

PDF/Adobe Format

Some of the information on this website is available in PDF format to provide for easier reading and printing of documents. This format is not always accessible. Newer PDF documents are being created in accessible PDF format but many of the documents on site predate that particular format. Please let us know if you are having difficulty with the particular format of a document and we will endeavour to forward a more accessible version.

Images

All images have ALT descriptions unless they are decorative in which case they have null values.

Tables

The use of tables has been kept to a minimum on the site.

Browser Testing

The website is coded to Transitional XHTML standards. All pages have been verified using the W3 Organisations validator.

All older browsers can access the website although the content maybe without graphical layout due to lack of CSS compatibility within the browser.

Maintaining accessibility

We are committed to maintaining and monitoring the accessibility of this website.  As part of this process we welcome any comment, suggestions or details of problems encountered from users.