Web accessibility

The Royal College of Phsyicians (RCP) is committed to providing a website that is accessible and easy to use for the widest range of visitors possible, regardless of disability or impairment. We believe that this is an ongoing process and are constantly seeking to improve in this area.

Guidelines

The site has been designed to adhere to best practice by following W3C standards. Pages have been built to comply with a minimum standard of WCAG 2.0 single 'A' guidelines. Wherever possible we aim to extend this to 'AA' and 'AAA' compliance.

Key considerations

Elements we've taken into account in trying to ensure the site is accessible as possible include:

  • using plain text for site content wherever possible
  • including alternative text for all images on the site
  • using appropriate semantic markup for page elements
  • using tools within our site content management system (CMS) to create accessible content
  • providing keyboard control for prominent navigation elements.

As the site is developed further, we will strive to ensure that we are adhering to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability.

Adaptive technologies

The site is being made compatible with adaptive technologies currently used to help people with disabilities to use computers. This includes screen-reading/magnifying software, voice-activated input software, and switch access.

If you use adaptive technology and are having problems accessing information on the site, please send an email to webteam@rcplondon.ac.uk and let us know:

  • which material you wanted to access
  • the problem you experienced 
  • the access technology you were using.

Content

Content across the site has been written and formatted to make it as accessible as possible. This includes:

  • semantic headings which are descriptive and used to highlight sections of text
  • meaningful text for all links
  • no information being conveyed exclusively through the use of colour.

Text resizing

Text size can be increased or decreased in your browser by following these steps:

PC – Internet Explorer 6 
From the top menu bar, select View and point to Text size

PC – Internet Explorer 7
From the menu bar underneath the search field, select Page and point to Text size

PC – other browsers 
Increase text size: Hold down the CTRL key and press +
Decrease text size: Hold down the CTRL key and press 

Mac – all browsers 
Increase text size: Hold down the Command key and press +
Decrease text size: Hold down the Command key and press 

Training our web contributors

Since November 2015 we have been running a mandatory training course for everyone who uploads content on our website. Participants take part in an accessibility session so they understand our legal, moral and practical responsibilities towards users with disabilities.

Further information

More information on how to make your browsing experience easier is available from the BBC's My web my way website. This includes advice and help for those who may benefit from making changes to their browser, operating system or computer to be able to view the web in a more accessible way.

Feedback

We are continually seeking to make improvements to the site and welcome any comments, suggestions or feedback. If you would like to get in touch about anything related to the web, please contact the RCP web team at webteam@rcplondon.ac.uk.