Accessibility
Accessibility statement
The aim of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is to make sure that the widest possible range of people finds our website easy to use, or "accessible". We are actively working to increase the accessibility of our website over time.
Accessibility of our site
Our website is regularly tested to make sure it meets the government standard for accessibility. This standard is known as Double-A (AA) level of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Where possible, we strive to meet Triple-A (AAA) level accessibility wherever it does not reduce usability for any other groups of users.
Accessibility help
There are a number of features available from your computer to make our website easier to use. These features can help you do such things as change the size and colour of the text and change the background colour.
This page contains information on:
Navigation aids
Many features on the IPS website are designed to make it easier for you to find what you want:
- Access key: these have been set up to make it easy to jump directly to frequently used pages
- Search box: the website has a search facility
Access keys and how to use them
We have used the UK Government standard access keys where they apply to this site. These are to help you navigate through the main areas using keyboard shortcuts.
A subset of the standard has been used and the access keys are as follows:
A subset of the standard has been used and the access keys are as follows:
S - Skip navigation
1 - Home page
3 - Site map
4 - Search
8 - Terms and Conditions
9 - Contact us
0 - Accessibility
With Windows-based systems:
Press the Alt key and the access key number or letter below. Then press Enter.
With Apple Mac-based systems:
Press the Ctrl key and the access key number or letter below.
Changing text size
The text on this website has been styled using a non-fixed value in a style sheet. This means that you can change the text size using your browser settings.
The BBC My Web My Way site gives detailed help on making changes to your browser, operating system, or computer to view websites in a more accessible way.
Help with PDF documents
The website contains a number of Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. To read these documents online, or to print them, you need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Adobe Reader (opens in a new window) can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website and is available for several computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux.
Links to documents open in a new browser window.
Alternative ways to read our documents
If you use screen reader software or an audio-enabled web browser, Adobe provides a free online tool that you can use to convert the guides to a plain text format.
To use Adobe's online tool:
- Find the link on this website to the document you want to read, and copy it
- Go to Adobe's online tools (opens in a new window)
- Follow the instructions onscreen
The tool will display your chosen guide as a web page (HTML) or as plain text.
You can read more about Adobe Reader and accessibility on the Adobe website
Links
Links have `title' attributes which describe the destination of the link in greater detail. Title attributes are not included if the link already fully describes the where the link goes to; for example, the headline of a news story.
Wherever possible, links are written to make sense out of context, so that you do not have to read the surrounding text to understand where the link will take you.
You will always be warned if clicking on a link opens a file or website in a new browser window. The warning is either contained in the link itself, the title attribute or in the text immediately after the link. Links to external sites open in a new browser window.
All graphics and images on the website have an alternative text attribute that describes the contents or function of the image. This description will be displayed when images are turned off, on a text-only browser or as a `tool tip' in certain browsers when the mouse pointer is moved over the image.
Additional help
The Apple Mac operating system includes many accessibility options, including resizing text, text-to-speech and keyboard alternatives to mouse functions. For more information visit the Apple websites accessibility section
There are a number of built in accessibility features available to users of Microsoft products. For more information visit the accessibility section of the Microsoft website
Contact details
We welcome feedback on the accessibility and usability of our website.
If you have any questions or suggestions, or if you have difficulty using any part of the site, please contact us
