SEE ALSO > Disability and Dyslexia Service
The University of East London intends to have a very accessible web site and is currently establishing new standards of design in the Higher Education sector and beyond. All newly created web pages conform to WAI Guidelines and most will pass Priority 1, 2 and 3 of these when tested (rated AAA by Bobby). At the time of publication (May 2002) this is an exceptional achievement, particularly for a site that is also well presented for its non-disabled audience. The same quality will be extended to the entire site as soon as possible.
The new design has a number of special features: It is easy for screenreading equipment to work with (see screenreader page) and can be modified with alternative style-sheets to assist users with impaired vision or dyslexia. For advice on this and on accessing PDF documents see the rest of this page. A Site Map is also provided as an alternative navigation path. See Viewing for other aspects of its adaptability and usability.
Occasionally material on this web site may be provided in PDF Format. Documents presented as PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them. Follow this link to download it if it is not already installed on your computer: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
For disability access PDF files may be converted to accessible web pages by following this link: http://access.adobe.com/simple_form.html
You will need the URL (exact location on the web) of the file in question to action this. On recent pages these should be given. In case of difficulty please contact the Web Team.
The Internet Explorer 5 web browser (or a more recent version), may be used in combination with a separate style-sheet to modify the appearance of web pages. The University of East London's web site offers a choice of style-sheets with different properties that could improve accessibility for a range of individuals. These are specifically designed to work on this site, but have the potential to improve access to the whole of the web. How well they will work on other web sites will depend on the particular circumstances of their design.
For on campus use at UEL alternative versions of the Internet Explorer browser, already set to present pages differently, have been made available on the network. Please contact the IT Help Desk (telephone extension 2468) for further information on this, or to arrange help selecting an appropriate style-sheet for your needs.
The style-sheets may also be installed on users' computers outside the University of East London, primarily for viewing its web site, but also as a general accessibility tool. This will involve downloading them first (either singly or as a zip file containing all of the alternatives) and then setting your copy of Internet Explorer to work with them. See below for further details:
Click on any of the following links to select a style-sheet or select the zip file containing all of them. Choose "Save to disc" on the box that pops up and click "OK" to transfer a copy to your own computer. Now follow the instructions above from item 2 onwards.
Antique White | Aquamarine | Black and Yellow | Blue and Yellow | Bookman | Comic Sans | Georgia | Ivory | Lilac | Linen | Pale Violet | Peach | Pink | Smoke | Yellow |
The entire selection of style-sheets may be downloaded as a zip file by clicking on the following link:
You can change the size of the content text using the "Text Size" selectors under "View" in Internet Explorer. "Medium" will give the page its intended appearance, but some may find the text easier to read if this is set to "Larger" or "Largest". If an alternative style-sheet is being used it is also possible to change the text size by this means and the size of the menu text will be modified too. Note that the Site Map links will respond to text enlargement, so it may be suitable as a navigation menu where significant magnification is needed.
To fully enable the ability to change font sizes without changing the style-sheet simply tick "Ignore font sizes specified in web pages" in the browser's accessibility settings as described above. This may be less effective than an alternative style-sheet though, since some menu text may encroach on the content at the bigger settings.
The font size will effectively be enlarged by changing to a smaller screen setting too. This can be done with or without altering the controlling style-sheet. Simply by viewing this site at 640 x 480 pixels for example the text will look much bigger (see Viewing). By combining enlarged text with a smaller screen setting considerable magnification can be achieved.
You may also alter the font itself or the background colour, or both, by selectively checking the "Accessibility" options referred to above and then selecting alternatives from "Colours" and "Fonts" in the "General" panel of "Internet Options". Again this may be less effective than using an alternative style-sheet, but may suit some users.
Netscape browsers offer similar possibilities by letting you set fonts, font sizes and colours that override the web page's own instructions. These settings can be made by following "Preferences" or "General Preferences" from the drop-down menu under "Edit" or "Options", depending on the browser version. These are at the top, on the toolbar.
The Web Team has tried to anticipate the individual needs of most users, but may not have resolved every issue. If you encounter difficulties when using this web site please report them by using this link: E-mail the Web Team
© 2002
For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description
For further information on this web site's accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information
The following message does not apply to screenreader users:
You will still be able to access all the essential content of this web site, but it will not look, or function, exactly as intended.
