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This intention falls perfectly in line with the directives of e-Europe initiatives, is in accordance with the Resolution of the Council of the European Union of 25 March 2002 on the e-Europe Action Plan 2002 "Accessibility of public websites and their content" and supports the initiative begun in 2003 with proclamation of the European Year of Disabled People.
In this respect, the Catalan Data Protection Authority has been guided by recommendations put forward in the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative), an international body set up to ensure that no group of people suffers discrimination that could result in fractures in the virtual world. All pages on the Authority website comply with Level A of the WAI.
Guidelines for accessibility
The guidelines for accessibility taken from WAI recommendations and applied to the website are outlined below.
CONTENT AND FORMATS
An alternative text has been added to help identify the semantic meaning of all images used in the website.
On accessing a document, indication is given of the original language in which it was written.
As an alternative to the drop-down menus, content may be accessed by locating the pointer over the corresponding option (also see "Navigation using tabs").
Style sheets have been used to control composition and presentation.
Table headings are clearly identified: cells used for headings are distinguished from those that contain content.
The use of scripts, mini-applications (applets) and other programming objects has been minimised, and where this has not been possible an alternative means of navigating has been provided. This ensures that pages continue to be available when such barriers are disconnected or not supported.
NAVIGATION
Overall information is provided about the general composition of the website through the page identified as Web Map.
All menus on the website are accessible using tab keys.
A logical tab order has been created for navigation through the website using tab keys.
A series of keyboard shortcuts has been defined to facilitate quick access to the most popular sections.
Locating the page pointer over the options for navigation provides direct access to the most significant pages.
All website navigation has been situated in the same window, thus avoiding the appearance of new windows and pop-ups, which are a source of much confusion and make navigation difficult.
CLARITY
Simple fonts, letters and images and a sufficient level of contrast have been adopted so that all information published in colour can be seen correctly in black-and-white.
To make text reading as comfortable as possible the website offers the chance to change the size of the letters by choosing from three defined fonts: small, medium and large.
Special attention has been paid to using appropriate language which is clear and simple.
A style of presentation has been created which is coherent throughout all of the website's pages.
Keyboard shortcuts
A series of keyboard shortcuts has been defined for quick access to the most popular links. The defined keys are combined with the Left Alt key and operate with both Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers.
The following keyboard shortcuts are active on all pages of www.apdcat.net:
- Home page of the Catalan Data Protection Authority website: alt + g
- Shortcut to the "Reports" section: alt + d
- Shortcut to the "Regulations" section: alt + n
- Shortcut to the search tool: alt + r
- Shortcut to the Accessibility and Keyboard shortcuts page: alt + b
- Shortcut to the top of the page: alt + o
Compatibility
To view the pages in this website the following requirements must be met:
- Monitor resolution: 1,024 × 768
- Browser versions:
- Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
- Firefox 2.0 or higher
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