Healthily Accessibility

Improving the accessibility of our website is a process that we update and fine-tune on a regular basis.

We do so by following the principles of the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, where possible. In addition, our designs have been tested for accessibility using the Stark plug-in with an overall rating of AAA compliance on all text.

We aim to deliver the information on our website in a way that allows users to:

• clearly consume the information, such as by seeing or hearing it

• find what they need with ease

• understand the information

• use the site in combination with other technologies that may improve their experience

How we make information easy to see or hear

We aim to provide text alternatives for all non-written content. This includes text transcripts and captions for audio and video content.

Text and images (including colour and contrast) have been optimised for people with visual impairments, such as colour blindness. That's why we place all text on solid colour backgrounds with maximum contrast.

Our website is compatible with assistive technologies that allow users with limited vision to consume our written content. These technologies include screen readers, video and screen magnifiers, and braille displays.

You can use the following Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) guides to learn more about setting up and using assistive technologies.

1. Braille displays

2. Screen readers

3. Screen magnifiers

How we help users find the information they need

We aim to make our site as easy to move around as possible by using many strategies, including the following:

1. Headings and labels that describe the topic or purpose of a given piece of information.

2. Section headings that clearly describe the topic or purpose of sections of text.

3. Content tables for long-form articles.

4. Page titles that describe the topic and purpose of each page.

5. A website layout that allows the user to clearly see the part of the screen that they can control (by typing).

6. When content must be read in a specific order to make sense, users are given the information in that order.

7. Clearly described links to other pages in our website or other websites.

8. Multiple ways for users to find a web page within a set of web pages. For example, they can use our main navigation menu, secondary navigation and sitemap.

9. Providing information about the user's location within a set of web pages.

How we make our information easy to understand

Our content is produced in keeping with the principles of the Plain English Campaign. This keeps our content free from complicated sentences and jargon. When we use medical words, acronyms or technical language, we explain what they mean.

We produce content for a global audience with a lay understanding of health information and a reading age of 7 to 11 years (lower secondary education level).

Other ways we make our information easy to understand include:

1. Making sure our web pages appear and operate in a predictable way.

2. If an input error is automatically detected, the item that is in error is identified, described to the user in text and suggestions for correction (if known) are given to the user, unless it would jeopardize the security or purpose of the content.

3. Using labels or instructions when users need to input content to use a feature.

   
   

We also have a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section that provides answers to common questions users of our website may have.