We aim to make our website accessible to everyone including those with sight, audio and motor impairment restrictions.

If you encounter any difficulties please email us to explain the problems you are encountering or call us at 1 604 775 8200. If you choose to call, office hours are between Monday – Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Pacific Standard Time. Additional contact details (fax and mail) are found at the end of this web page. .

• We aim to use a web font so all text is easy to read
• We have appropriate alt tags for images to convey information
• We ensure that navigation through our websites works in a consistent way
• We do not rely on just colour as the only way of giving information
• We avoid the use of images of text wherever possible, and provide equivalent text links that consist of images

To enlarge text and images on the site

On a Windows PC:

• To enlarge text size: Hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and press ‘+’
• To reduce text size: Hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and press ‘-‘
• To reset text size to the default: hold down ‘Ctrl’ and press ‘0’

On an Apple Macintosh computer:

• To enlarge text size: Hold down the ‘Cmd’ (Apple) key and press ‘+’
• To reduce text size: Hold down the ‘Cmd’ (Apple) key and press ‘-‘
• To reset text size to the default: hold down ‘Cmd’ (Apple) and press ‘0’

More tips to improve your web browsing experience, visit this web resource compiled by Web Accessibility Initiative on better web browsing: tips for customizing your computer. This resource provides information such as how to change colours and fonts, browsing the web by keyboard, using voice commands, reading assistance and many others.

Assistive Technologies

Assistive technologies are software or equipment that people with disabilities use to improve interaction with the web, such as screen readers that read aloud web pages for people who cannot read text, screen magnifiers for people with some types of low vision, and voice recognition software and selection switches for people who cannot use a keyboard or mouse.

Source: Web Accessibility Initiative, retrieved from: https://www.w3.org/WAI/users/involving#at

Assistive Technologies with Seeing and Reading websites:

Screen magnifiers are sotftware tools that enlarge text and images, and some have the option to read text and menu out loud. To select the appropriate screen magnifier for you, click here.
Screen readers are software tools that read aloud text on the screen, and some have the option to summarize the contents of web pages or providing the text on refreshable braille display. To select the appropriate screen reader for you, click here.

Assistive Technologies with Hearing Audio on Websites:

Assistive resources are available to provide guidance on how to configure your computer for optimal audio experience. Click here for tips on volume adjustments and more depending on your Operating System.

Assistive Technologies with using your keyboard or commanding your computer:

Tips and resources are available for those who need assistance with keyboard use. Suggestions on customizing keyboard functions, using alternate keyboards and voice command softwares to dictate control over the computer can be found on this link.

How the GIRLS Inspire site is built for Accessibility

Standards

We strive to make all pages validate to a W3C formal grammar.

Layout

The site uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control all of the presentation and layout. Tables are used only to present data.

Content

The content has been written and formatted to make it accessible. For example:

• Headings highlight sections of text (a h1 starts the content area of each page)
• Sentences are short with the meaning at the beginning
• Links use meaningful text
• Forms can be navigated using the tab key

Navigation

We’ve made navigation links consistent between pages throughout the site. The site is also fully accessible using only the keyboard and can be navigated with scripting disabled.

Scripts

Our website uses JavaScript to improve usability. For critical pages of our site we have ensured that all functionality will continue to work even if JavaScript is disabled.

Multimedia

Graphics and images are used to improve the visual appearance of the website. All non-text elements will include alternate descriptive text. For graphical elements that are purely decorative no descriptive text will be provided.

Contact us:

Commonwealth of Learning
4710 Kingsway, Suite 2500, Burnaby
V5H 4M2, British Columbia, Canada
Phone: +1 604 775 8200
Fax: +1 604 775 8210
Email: info@col.org or info@girlsinspire.org