Accessibility This page covers accessibility for people using a wide range of user agent software and devices, not just standard web browsers. The page includes help and tips on navigating this website by various means such as using Access Keys or not using a mouse. Page content Web Accessibility Access Keys Cascading Style Sheets Font Sizes Javascript PDF Documents Further Enquiries Related Information Whangarei District Council follows the E-government guidelines, which aim to ensure that government websites are accessible to all users. This means we also follow the W3C standards for HTML 4.01, CSS2, and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. Web Accessibility Web accessibility is related to usability, as both improve ease of website use. However, usability is aimed at ensuring that all website users have a happier experience of the website; accessibility is aimed at ensuring that one or more groups of users do not find it more difficult than others to use the site as people use a wide range of user agent software and devices, not just standard web browsers. This is especially important for people with disabilities such as visual impairment. In order to access the web, some users require special software or devices in addition to a standard web browser, or specially designed web browsers. Design for accessibility is a sub-category of good design for usability. The needs that web accessibility aims to address include: Visual Visual impairments including blindness, various common types of low vision and poor eyesight, various types of colour blindness; Motor/Mobility e.g. difficulty or inability to use the hands, including tremors, muscle slowness, loss of fine muscle control, etc., due to conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, stroke; Cognitive/Intellectual  Developmental disabilities, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.), and cognitive disabilities of various origins, affecting memory, attention, developmental "maturity," problem-solving and logic skills, etc.; Auditory  Deafness or hearing impairments, including individuals who are hard of hearing; Seizures Photoepileptic seizures caused by visual strobe or flashing effects. Navigating this Website Without a Mouse Access keys help you navigate this site by using keyboard shortcuts to get to important pages. Access Keys and their Functions for this Web Site Key Page Location 0 List of Access Keys 1 Whangarei District Council Homepage 2 Site map 3 Search 9 Contact us [ Skip link (beginning of main content in the current page) / newzealand.govt.nz Access Key Combinations Operating System Browser Access Key Combination PC Windows Internet Explorer 4 and above ALT + Access Key (to focus the link) + ENTER to activate PC Windows K-meleon ALT + Access Key PC Windows Mozilla ALT + Access Key PC Windows Netscape 6 and above ALT + Access Key PC Windows Opera 7 SHIFT + ESC, followed by Access Key MAC OS 9 Internet Explorer 4 and 4.5 Not supported MAC OS 9 Mozilla Not supported MAC OS 9 Netscape 4 Not supported MAC OS 9 Opera Not supported MAC OS X I-Cab 2.8 CONTROL + Access Key * * you may need to click on the page first MAC OS X Internet Explorer 5 and 5.1 CONTROL + Access Key * * some systems require CONTROL + COMMAND + AccessKey MAC OS X Mozilla Not supported MAC OS X Netscape 6 and above CONTROL + Access Key MAC OS X OmniWeb 4 Not supported MAC OS X Opera Not supported MAC OS X Safari Not supported NOTE: The use of access keys may vary depending on your browser and operating system. Cascading Style Sheets Whangarei District Council uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) throughout the site to style web pages. The use of CSS means that web pages are smaller in size, and more accessible to all browsers, especially less common browsers like screen readers (often used by visually impaired people) and handheld devices with small screens. Other browsers that simply choose not to support CSS will render plain HTML and should not have any readability problems. Font Sizes See below for instructions on how to change the text size of your Windows based browser to suit your individual needs: Firefox: hold down CTRL and press + or - to alter the text size Internet Explorer: If you have a mouse wheel simply hold down CTRL and roll the mouse wheel to alter the text size. Netscape 6, Mozilla: hold down CTRL and press + or - to alter the text size, or from the menu bar select 'View' >> 'Text zoom' Netscape 4: hold down CTRL and press [ or ] to alter the text size Netscape 3: from the menu bar select 'Options' >> 'General preferences' >> 'Fonts' >> 'Choose font' to choose a text size Opera: select 'View' >> 'Zoom', then choose a text size. This will also enlarge graphics. Note: Differing browser versions may affect the ability to adjust font sizes. Javascript This site is created with the help of the scripting language JavaScript. If you are having problems with the website this maybe because you do not have JavaScript turned on. Where possible, web pages have been made to work without JavaScript, although some functionality may be lost. When a non-Javascript version is not available, it is usually because the functionality can not be reproduced without using JavaScript. JavaScript is used to open up online forms on the website so if you cannot open any of the online forms this maybe the reason. The following are the steps required to turn on JavaScript from an Internet Explorer web browser, it will be very similar in other browsers. Open your browser and the click on the Tools menu option at the top of the web browser Click the Internet Options link on this menu Click on the Security tab at the top Click on the Custom Level button at the bottom of the window that opened Scroll to the bottom of the list that appears until it says "Scripting" Under this area select the option Enable Click the ok button to save the changes If you turn on JavaScript or it was already turned on and you are still having problems please contact us and we will try to solve your problem. PDF Documents Some documents on this site are Portable Document Format (PDF). In this format you can easily save, view and print the file exactly as it was created, with the same layout, images etc. To do this you need software called Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is free and simple to download from from the Adobe website. If you have problems or want to know the basics of how to use PDFs the Adobe site has plenty of help available here. Acrobat Reader program also has a help function. Click on Help from the menu bar at the top of the screen and then select Reader Guide from the drop down menu. Downloading PDFs Forms and instructions can be downloaded using Acrobat Reader. The forms are PDF fill-in forms which users will be able to complete onscreen, print out, and fax in. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader does not allow you to save your completed forms. You can save your completed forms if you use Acrobat Approval or the full Acrobat Standard or Professional Programs. Acrobat Approval is no longer available, but existing versions will work. If you are having difficulty downloading a PDF, please make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you need further help, try Adobe's customer support . If you only see a blank page when you download the PDF, usually you are not waiting long enough for the file to download. If you have this problem, or would like to speed the download a bit, please try this: Instead of clicking on the link for the PDF, right-click. On the pop-up menu select "Save Target As" (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As" (Netscape). Select the place on your hard drive to save the file, and the name. Once you click Save, the file will download to your computer hard drive. Once the file has downloaded, you can double-click on it to open it. It is usually quicker to download the file this way, because it is downloading the file immediately instead of waiting for your Acrobat program to open before downloading the file. Instructions for Using Fill-in Forms If you are using the free Acrobat Reader: Before you start to fill out a form, please make sure that you have all the correct, final information available. You may wish to print the forms first, fill them out by hand, and ensure their accuracy before filling in the final forms on your computer. As Adobe Acrobat Reader does not allow you to save the form once it is filled out , you will be unable to go back and retrieve or edit information once you close the window containing the forms. You must print out the forms before you close the window or you will lose the information you have entered. With multi-page documents, you may want to proofread and print each page as you complete it. To complete the forms: If your cursor is not already in the shape of a "hand", select the "hand" tool from the Acrobat toolbar menu. This will allow you to move the page around to see each portion. Move the "hand" pointer over a form box on the document. The "hand" should turn into an "I-beam." The "I-beam" signifies a "fill-in" section of the form. Click inside the box. You can now type into the box. When the pointer hovers over a check box, button, or item list, it will turn into a hand with one finger pointing. This means you can select the item. Fill out the form by typing text into the appropriate areas and checking boxes where needed. (Boxes can be checked either by clicking on the box with your mouse or by tabbing into the box and hitting the "enter" key.) To move from field to field, use the Tab key. Shift + Tab will move you to the previous field. Print the form using the "print" icon in the Acrobat toolbar menu, not the print icon or command in your Web browser. If you print using your Web browser's print command instead of the Acrobat command, the contents of the fields might not print properly. Check the printed forms very carefully for any errors, fields that did not print, or omissions. You may go back and make changes to any of the fields in your open document and then reprint it. Further Enquiries If you would like further online assistance about this website, please visit our help page. If you have specific enquiries regarding the Whangarei District Council web site please contact us. Related Information RSS Explained About this Site Help