Accessibility

Standards compliance

1. All pages on this site follow priorities 1 & 2 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
2. All pages on this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict.
3. All pages on this site use structured semantic markup. H2 tags are used for main titles, H3 tags for subtitles. For example, on this page, JAWS users can skip to the next section within the accessibility statement by pressing ALT+INSERT+3.

Structural Markup

Web pages on http://www.gantrail.com include 5 different areas:

1. A header bar that includes the main navigation between sections of the site,
2. A "side bar" that may contain navigation for pages in the current section,
3. A main content area,
4. A "side bar" that contains site search, news stories and a login area,
5. A footer, including a sub-footer with links to the main areas of the site and supplemental documents such as this one.

When CSS (Cascading Styles Sheet) are not applied to a document (or when using a screen reader), the 5 areas are read in the above order.

Access Keys

This site uses the accesskey attribute. Most browsers support jumping to specific links by typing keys defined on the web site. On Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key.

Note: Internet Explorer requires you to press ALT + an access key + Enter to access linked documents.

Printing Pages

This site has been built with a dedicated print stylesheet. This ensures that printed pages only contain information applicable to print and also expands upon the text by providing URLs of items linked to within the text.

Images

1. Unless they are purely decorative items, all images used on this web site have suitable alt attributes.
2. Content should be usable/accessible with images "off" (disabled).

Links

1. Many links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, unless the text of the link already fully describes the target.
2. Links are written to make sense out of context.
3. The first link in every document is a "SkipNav"; it is to skip directly to what is considered the main section of the page (the content). We have implemented this feature in a way that it allows Internet Explorer users to tab through (past that target link).
4. URLs are permanent whenever possible.

Forms

1. All form controls are appropriately and explicitly labelled.
2. We provide an email address as an alternative form of access for our online forms.
3. Forms on this site can be accessed through an access key (1).
4. Form validation routine does not rely on client-side script.

Scripts

1. We are using non obtrusive client-side scripts.
2. Content of this web site is usable without JavaScript support.

Pop up Windows

1. In visual browsers, unless Javascript is disabled, a small icon appears next to links to external resources, the title attribute of these links says "(opens in new window)".
2. Browsers with Popup Blockers should be able to access these external documents.
    

Visual design

1. This site uses cascading style sheets for visual layout.
2. This site uses only relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified "text size" option in visual browsers.
3. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the content of each page is still readable.
4. Any information conveyed through the use of color is also available without color (i.e. text based).

How to modify this site to fit your needs

These links explain the many ways you can make the web more accessible to you.

• Windows users
• Mac users
• Linux users

Accessibility references

1. W3 accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.
2. W3 accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.
3. W3 accessibility checklist, a busy developer's guide to accessibility.
4. U.S. Federal Government Section 508 accessibility guidelines.

Accessibility software

1. JAWS, a screen reader for Windows. A time-limited, downloadable demo is available.
2. Home Page Reader, a screen reader for Windows. A downloadable demo is available.
3. Lynx, a free text-only web browser for blind users with refreshable Braille displays.
4. Links, a free text-only web browser for visual users with low bandwidth.
5. Opera, a visual browser with many accessibility-related features, including text zooming, user stylesheets, image toggle. A free downloadable version is available. Compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and several other operating systems.