Access Keys

The accesskeys for the site are as follows:

• Homepage - H
• About Acorn - A
• Coffee Shop - O
• Contact us - C

Access keys are keyboard shortcuts that replace the need to use a mouse for navigation, by pressing the ALT key and the respective key on the keyboard. Access keys are indicated on this site by hovering the mouse over the main links. For example, using Internet Explorer, the homepage can be reached by pressing ALT and H, then Return. In Firefox, the same can be achieved by pressing SHIFT and ALT and H

Accessibility Design

Many internet users with disabilities find website difficult or even impossible to use simply because of the way they are designed. This website has been designed to be as accessible as possible and to be compatible with the types of adaptive technology used by people with disabilities, including screen readers. As such, visitors can control the size of the text and can use "access keys" on the keyboard rather than the mouse to navigate through pages.

We design all of our pages to be viewed correctly on 800x600 resolutions and above, as we do not discriminate against users. We also include multiple stylesheets, including a "text-only" version, to ensure that all users can view our sites and read their content, despite having visual impairements.

Internal Navigation Links

At the start of every page are invisible links providing direct access to content, navigation and the accessibility statement, each with accesskeys. When keyboard-navigating, however, the links become visible - try tabbing through the links on the page.

Also, as some versions of the Macromedia Flash plug-in "trap" keyboard-navigating users within the main navigation, some links are repeated in the keyboard links, for ease of use.

Standards Compliance

All of our pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional and use structured semantic markup. The CSS also validates to W3C Standards.

We strive to obey the spirit of the UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 with respect to the provision of services online, as required by the Disability Rights Commission.