ACCESSIBILITY - NAVIGATION HELP

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is access to information without any restrictions whatsoever based on impairments, disability or handicap.



Many users access information on the web sites from contexts very different to our own, because:

  • They may not be able to see, hear, move.
  • They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
  • They may not be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
  • They may have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection, etc...

These users make up 10-20% of the population, and navigating through a standard web site may be very difficult, if not impossible, for them.



Utilities and tools have been developed for these users (for example, voice navigators or screen magnifiers) that adapt computers to the way these users operate, and contents need therefore to be structured to allow users with disabilities to use them.


Commitment

In creating our web site, it was our intention to design a web site that was accessible for as many users as possible, regardless of their personal or technological limitations, and to collaborate in reducing social exclusion and overcoming the barriers created by changes resulting from the use of new technologies.


Hence, we have applied and complied with the Accessibility Guidelines or General Principles of Accessible Design developed by the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) Working Group of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).


We have used standard formats as defined by the W3C and we have followed the Accessibility Guidelines developed by the WAI, complying with level AA.


Should you, nevertheless, have trouble navigating or viewing this site, please do not hesitate to contact us.


Standards

The language used for the contents and their structure is XHTML 1.1, and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) have been used for arranging and graphically displaying the elements. All the pages have been validated as XHTML 1.1 Transitional and CSS 2.0.

Navigation

In order to facilitate navigation for users, all the pages have a similar structure, consisting of:

  • A header with the main navigation toolbar, with links to the following contents: Search, Site Map, Contact Us, Accessibility, and to the languages available (Euskera, English, Français).
  • A menu on the left side of the page with links to the main sections of the web site.
  • A menu on the right side of the page showing the options available in each section.
  • A central area displaying the current path to that users may know at all times what section and subsection they are currently browsing and the information therein contained.

Shortcut keys


Shortcut keys have been enabled to facilitate navigation. To use these shortcut keys in Microsoft Windows-based systems, you must use the key combination ALT + Shortcut key (for Internet Explorer 4.0, Netscape, Mozilla Firebird) or ALT + Shortcut key + ENTER (Internet Explorer 5 or higher), or Shift + Esc to activate the shortcut keys in Opera. For MacOS-based operating systems, you may use the combination CTRL + Shortcut key.

  • p: go to presentation.
  • h: go to history.
  • o: go to objectives.
  • e: go to election.
  • r: go to organs of the chamber.
  • f: go to regional government regulation.
  • b: go to official gazettes.
  • l: go to parliamentary initiatives.
  • s: go to seats of parliament.
  • g: go to gernika assembly hall.
  • a: go to abellaneda assembly hall.
  • d: go to gerediaga assembly hall.
  • i: go to bilbao seat of parliament.
  • t: go to tree of gernika.
  • n: go to encartaciones museum.

Links and images


Links that so require contain a description through the "title" attribute.


All images contain a brief description through the "alt" attribute.


Visual design


This web site uses layers and cascading style sheets (CSS) for the visual formatting of information. The contents have been separated from the presentation, thus ensuring access as well as the correct visualisation of information in different environments.


Relative font sizes have been used, and these may be configured by users under the text options in their navigators. We have checked that this web site may be correctly viewed when using different versions of the major navigators (Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher, Mozilla, Opera), platforms, equipment and configurations.


Should a user come across a breach in relation to our accessibility policy or a non-conformance with any of the check points of the WAI's Guidelines, please let us know immediately so we may correct it as soon as possible.


Exceptions


In spite of every effort, some pages on this site may not be completely accessible to all users. Among these pages are, for example, those with videos or sound, such as the on-line broadcasting of council meetings, virtual visits or the recordings of speeches of various electoral candidacy members at meetings of the council or of commissions. Some users may also have difficulty opening published PDF documents. We are working on improving this situation and hope that very shortly these pages will be accessible to all users of this web site.