West Thames College aims to ensure that this website is accessible to all. If you feel that content on the site could be presented in a more accessible way, please contact us with your suggestions. Below you will find information about this website and how to customise it for your needs.

Browser Compatibility

Our website is best viewed in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Opera. Other browsers may not display the pages correctly. Users of Internet Explorer are advised to upgrade to version 8 for an optimum user experience.

Changing the text size

If you find the text hard to read you may wish to make it bigger. There are several ways you can control the text size.

In the top right corner of every page of the West Thames website, there is a link that says ‘Change text’ followed by the letter ‘A’ five times. If you click on the first 'A' the text will show the default size, the next 'A' will make the text get a bit bigger, and clicking the third 'A' will make it bigger still.

If you are using Microsoft XP and have a mouse with a control wheel on top, you can use this to change the display size. Press and hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard, then move the wheel on the mouse – forwards to enlarge, and backwards to decrease it.

Alternatively you can control text size through your internet browser.

If you are using Internet Explorer click on the ‘view’ option in the menu bar that is just underneath the address bar on the browser. A drop down menu will appear and one of the options is called ‘text size.’ Then just choose whichever text size suits you.

If you are using Mozilla Firefox then click on the ‘view’ option in the menu bar that is above the address bar in the browser. When the dropdown menu appears choose the ‘text size’ option and pick whichever text size suits you.

Changing the colour and contrast of the website.

You may want to change the colour and contrast of the website to make it easier to read.

The West Thames College website has been designed to allow users to change the pages' colour scheme. In the top right corner of every page of the website, there is a link that says ‘Change text’ followed by the letter ‘A’ five times. If you click on the fourth or fifth 'A' (coloured yellow and black respectively) the colour scheme will be altered.

Alternatively, you can change your computer's default settings. On a Microsoft Windows computer all you have to do is go to the ‘start’ menu at the bottom left of your computer screen and click on ‘control panel’, then select ‘accessibility options’ (usually represented by a wheelchair icon).

When you choose the accessibility option another window will open. From the tabs across the top, choose the ‘display’ option and within this there is a ‘high contrast’ option and this will allow you to change the colours and contrast of your computer display.

Tick the ‘use high contrast’ box and then click the ‘apply’ button at the bottom right of the window. Next to the ‘use high contrast’ box is a button called ‘settings’ which allows you to choose from a huge range of colour and contrast options until you find one that suits your vision best.

Downloads, Word documents and PDFs

In order to ensure that material on the West Thames College website is as accessible as possible we aim to limit the use of downloadable documents such as Word documents and PDFs (Portable Document Format). The reason for this is that sometimes these documents can cause problems for disabled users. Where information is to be published on the website we will always endeavour to ensure it is published as an accessible HTML webpage, as this is the most accessible option.

There are some exceptions to this policy. These usually apply to downloadable documents that are intended for use in isolation from the website. An example of this would be a poster that is intended to be downloaded and printed and put up in the workplace, or forms that have to be downloaded and completed.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read PDF files. Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website. Later versions of this software provide a number of features that improve access for users.

Images

A description of every image is provided, either in the alternative text tag or on the page itself.

Links

We try to ensure that link text makes sense out of context and that it accurately describes the pages it points to. You can use the tab key on your keyboard (as well as your mouse) to move from consecutive link to link.

RSS

RSS is not officially supported in Internet Explorer 6. Users that wish to access RSS features are advised to upgrade to version 7 or 8.

West Thames College is committed to providing an accessible web presence that gives members of the public full access to College information, courses and activities. All pages should validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict. The templates use Cascading Style Sheets.