Last Updated (Thursday, 15 May 2008 04:16) Written by Administrator Thursday, 15 May 2008 04:07

Accessibility

We have tried to make our website barrier-free. We have taken into account the World Wide Web Consortium's Accessibility Initiative and Section Six of the New Zealand Government's Web Guidelines. We have also gone beyond the guidelines to meet the specific needs expressed by people we know who are challenged by accessibility barriers because of old technology, work constraints or mobility, sensory or cognitive impairments.

Please contact us if you have suggestions for any improvements we can make to the site.

Keyboard access

This website uses the access keys recommended for New Zealand Government websites. How you use access keys depends on the type and version of browser you are using. See How to select access keys for details.

* 0 Accessibility statement
* 1 Home
* 2 Site map
* 3 Search
* 6 Top of page
* 9 Contact information
* [ Skip to beginning of content

Changing text size

You may change the font size on any web page on this site.

Most browsers (with the exception of Internet Explorer) allow resizing of text via the following keyboard commands:

Windows: CTRL and the '+' or '-' keys.

Macintosh: and the '+' or '-' keys.

To change the font size in Internet Explorer, go to the View Menu and select Text Size.

Links within our site

As much as possible, links are written to make sense out of context. If the link does not make sense out of context, it has a title attribute to describe the context in greater detail. Link text is never duplicated; two links with the same text point to the same address. No links open a new page without warning.

Links to other sites

We have linked to other sites where we think the information they contain may be of value to you. We make no guarantees that they will be accessible.

Images

All content images include descriptive alt attributes. All decorative graphics use NULL alt attributes. Where the information conveyed by an image cannot be contained in a short alt, a full text description is provided either on the same page or on a linked page.

Navigation elements are all in plain text, not images.

Visual design

This site uses cascading style sheets for visual layout. If your browsing device does not support stylesheets, the content of each page is still readable.

Standards compliance

• All pages on this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional
• The css files used validate
• All pages on this site use structured semantic markup. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles. For example, on this page, JAWS users can skip to the next section within the accessibility statement by pressing ALT+INSERT+2.

How to select access keys

Access Keys are selected in different ways according to which browser you use:
Internet Explorer 5+:

Hold down the ALT key and select the number/letter of the access key, then press ENTER.
Internet Explorer 4:

Hold down the ALT key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Internet Explorer 5+ for Mac:

Hold down the CTRL key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Internet Explorer 4.5 for Mac:

Access keys are not supported
Netscape 6+:

Hold down the ALT (CTRL for Macintosh) key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Netscape earlier versions:

Access keys are not supported.
Mozilla Firefox and variants (including Camino):

Hold down the ALT (CTRL for Macintosh) key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Safari (Mac OS X):

Hold down the CTRL key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Omniweb (Mac OS X):

Hold down the CTRL key and select the number/letter of the access key.
Opera - 7.5+:

Press SHIFT+ESC, followed by the number/letter of the access key.