Article: Helpful tools and techniques to make Barnsley Council online easier to use Article Body In order to ensure that our website and its pages are accessible and usable for all customers, we use the following tools / techniques. BrowseAloud BrowseAloud is a tool that reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online. It is suitable for people who are blind or visually impaired and may also help those who have a good understanding of the english language but do not find reading it easy. By installing BrowseAloud on your PC, you can have the web pages of Barnsley Council online read to you, provided your computer is capable of playing sounds and you have suitable speakers or headphones. To install the tool, please visit the BrowseAloud website where you will find full instructions. The product is free and once installed, the pages of our website will be read out to you by the software. Access keys Access keys are shortcuts that allow you to navigate around our website using your keyboard, rather than a mouse or other pointing device. To use them, simply press the relevant access key whilst holding the Alt or Ctrl key as appropriate, then release them and press the enter key. Note that on a Mac, the Option key should be used instead of Alt. Our website uses the UK Government access key system: Alt and 0 = Accessibility Alt and 1 = Home Alt and 4 = Site Search Alt and 7 = Complaints procedure (Contact Us) Alt and 8 = Disclaimer Search facility Our search facility is available on every webpage to produce fast, accurate and helpful results. It can be found in the top right of the page alongside the primary tabs. We provide search tips to help you find the information you are looking for. Font size adjustments Our font size adjustment links are available on every webpage in the top right hand corner and allow visitors to make the size of the writing on screen larger or smaller to suit their needs. This is particularly useful for those with visual impairments who find it difficult to read on screen generally. Translation services In the top right hand corner of every webpage visitors will find a Union Jack flag icon, which has been placed to signify that by default our website is written in English. Clicking on this flag allows visitors to select alternative languages in which webpages should be displayed. We utilise Google Language Tools for this purpose which provides translation into 45 different languages using automated techniques. Whilst it is by no means a considered a perfect translation, it is hoped that this will enable visitors whose first language is not English, to interact online. RSS feeds Really Simple Syndication is a way of presenting information to visitors in a simple text format through a free subscription service. Visitors are able to subscribe to certain "feeds" of information and are alerted each time that feed receives a new item. At the moment, we have feeds for our: Media Releases Public Notices Events Listings Each time we publish a new media release, public notice or event, subscribers to those indivdual feeds are made aware and are able to view specific details in their own subscription software. In many cases this subscription software allows customisations to the way the feeds are presented, for example, in large font, or high contrast colours. Video transcripts All video content on our website have associated transcripts published alongside them that contain the written wording of the video. Visitors who are unable to view or hear the video can use these transcripts to receive the messages that our videos contain. Under consideration... Our website development roadmap is currently considering the delivery of new tools and techniques relating to: Contrast changes - will allow visitors to view our webpages in high contrasting colours, e.g. black text on a white background. Print friendly - will allow visitors to print our webpages in a way that enables easy off-screen reading. British sign language - included in all online video materials. If you'd like to see any other features planned into our development roadmap that will improve your ability to interact with us online, please contact us.