Step Online Ltd - Accessibility Statement

Step Online - fantastic effective websites

Accessibility Statement

Step Online Ltd is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability.

We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the accessibility of this site, we invite you to contact us.

Standards compliance

All pages on this site follow priorities 1 & 2 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

All pages on this site use structured semantic markup. H2 tags are used for main titles, H3 tags for subtitles. For example, on this page, JAWS users can skip to the next section within the accessibility statement by pressing ALT+INSERT+3. Opera users can skip sections by using "S" and "W" to cycle forwards and backwards respectively through headings.

Structural Markup Web pages on www.simplystep.co.uk include 4 different areas:

  1. A header area that includes our logo and page header images
  2. A 'side bar' that includes the main navigation
  3. A main content area
  4. A footer

When CSS (Cascading Styles Sheet) are not applied to a document (or when using a screen reader), the 4 areas are read in the above order.

Images

All images used on this web site have suitable alt and title attributes.

Content should be usable/accessible with images "off" (disabled).

All image-based links and content on this website use an image replacement technique that makes them accessible to non-visual browsers.

Links

All links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, unless the text of the link already fully describes the target, and links are written to make sense out of context.

The first link in every document is a "Skip To Main Content" link, which allows users to skip directly to the main content of the page.

URLs are permanent whenever possible.

All links that lead to external websites are clearly labelled in their title attributes.

Forms

All form controls are appropriately and explicitly labelled.

We provide an email address as an alternative form of access for our online forms.

Visual Design

This site uses cascading style sheets for visual layout.

This site uses only relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified "text size" option in visual browsers.

If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the content of each page is still readable.

Any information conveyed through the use of colour is also available without colour (i.e. text based).

Validation

All pages on this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict, and should be entirely compatible with all major current and future browsers.

Exceptions

Whilst Step Online Ltd strives to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.

JavaScript

The Step Online Ltd website may use JavaScript for visual enhancement and effect. All of this functionality is purely aesthetic, and as such almost all content should be usable and accessible whilst browsing with it disabled.

Access Keys

Checkpoint 9.5 of WCAG 1.0 advises the use of 'Access keys' to allow for page navigation. The SimplyStep.co.uk website does not use Access Keys, as research has shown that they increasingly conflict with functionality of modern browsers and assistive technology. This guideline is due to be removed with the release of WCAG 2.0.

Pre-filled form fields

Checkpoint 10.4 of WCAG 1.0 advises that text fields in forms should be pre-filled with default text. Research shows that this guideline is outdated and unnecessary. This guideline is due to be removed with the release of WCAG 2.0.

Contact Details

Should you have any questions about our Accessibility Statement, or any other aspect of our website, we invite you to contact us.

By using our services you agree to allow us to collect certain information about you, and your usage of this website. You also agree to allow us to use this information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Collection of information

We are committed to protecting your privacy, and collect the minimum amount of information about you that is commensurate with providing you with a satisfactory service.

We may collect any or all of the information that you give us depending on the type of transaction you enter into, including your name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address, together with data about your use of the website. Other information that may be needed from time to time to process a request may also be collected as indicated on the website.

Use of Information

Information collected about your and your activities is used primarily to assist in the processing of the task for which you visited the website, and the improvement of our services.

We may also periodically contact you to inform you of changes or updates to our services.

All information collected in the UK is held in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

All reasonable precautions are taken to prevent unauthorised access to this information. This safeguard may require you to provide additional forms of identity should you wish to obtain information about your account details.

Cookies

Your Internet browser has the in-built facility for storing small files- "cookies" - that hold information which allows a website to recognise your account. Our website may take advantage of this facility to enhance your experience. You have the ability to prevent your computer from accepting cookies but, if you do, certain functionality on the website may be impaired.

Disclosing Information

We do not disclose any personal information obtained about you from this website to third parties, except when we need to do so in order to complete any transaction involving third parties – e.g. when arranging for a courier company to deliver goods that you have ordered. We may also use the information to keep in contact with you and inform you of developments associated with our business.

You will be given the opportunity to remove yourself from any mailing list or similar device.

If at any time in the future we should wish to disclose information collected on this website to any third party, it would only be with your knowledge and consent.

We may from time to time provide information of a general nature to third parties - for example, the number of individuals visiting our website or completing a registration form, but we will not use any information that could identify those individuals.

Changes to this Policy

Any changes to our Privacy Policy will be placed here and will supersede this version of our Policy.

We will take reasonable steps to draw your attention to any changes in our Policy. However, to be on the safe side, we suggest that you read this document each time you use the website to ensure that it still meets with your approval.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, or if you want to know what information we have collected about you, please contact us.

You can also correct any factual errors in that information or require us to remove your details form any list under our control.