The AfriKids website is designed to be as accessible as possible so that anyone, regardless of ability or disability, can make use of the information contained within.

Usability and navigation enhancements

A number of improvements have been made to the site to allow for easier retrieval of information and navigation around the site:

  • The site now has a main menu that is visible at all times, together with a sub-menu that is displayed down the left hand side when an option in the main menu is selected. This style of navigation is easier to use than the 'cascading' or 'drop down' menu system the site used before, which can present difficulties for users who have difficulty using a mouse, as well as problems for screen readers which cannot always see the options in the sub-menu.
  • There is also a simple search box visible on every page which aids location of the information required by the user, together with a link to a more advanced search page.
  • The A-Z site index page can also allow easy lookup of information.
  • A breadcrumb trail has been added to the top of every page so the user can quickly determine where in the site hierarchy he or she currently is, and move back up a level if needed.

Accessibility features

  • The size of all text in the site is specified with relative proportions instead of pixel size. This allows the easy resizing of the text through the options available in your browser. For information on how to do this, please visit this page.
  • The content of every page is designed to adhere to a sensible semantic structure and uses standard HTML tags to denote the hierarchy of information, with a large header at the top (H1) , with smaller sub-headings undernetah (H2 and H3), paragraphs (P) and lists with list items (UL and LI) for bulleted information. This facilitates the ability of screen readers to convey the information to a non-sighted user in a meaningful way.
  • Also, where possible the use of HTML tables for layout has been avoided, as these can cause problems for screen readers. The site is now formatted using the recommended CSS2 standard.
  • All image descriptive ALT tags, so that even non-sighted users can hear what is contained in the image.
  • Access keys have been added to the site to users can access the main menu items using their keyboards. Access keys are activated in Internet Explorer by holding down the ALT key with the access key, letting go of both and pressing Enter. In Firefox you hold down SHIFT and ALT together with the access key. The access keys are as follows:
    • 0 - Home
    • 1 - About Us
    • 2 - Ghana
    • 3 - UK
    • 4 - Get Involved
    • 5 - News
  • A skip link has been added to the top of every page so that a person using a screen reader can skip to the main content and not have to sit through navigation information being read out for every page visited.

For more information on accessibility, please visit the BBC's 'My Web, My Way' site. This contains lots of very useful information, including information on how to customise your web browser to suit your needs.

If you have any suggestions for how we can make afrikids.org even more accessible, please let us know by filling in the feedback form, or write to us or phone us using our contact details.