The website design of International Union of Architects (UIA) - Region IV Work Programme on 'Architecture For All' (UIAWPAFA) has taken into consideration the needs of the visually-impaired. The UIAWPAFA website was awarded the Gold Award in the Web Accessibility Recognition Scheme 2018 co-organised by the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC), and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO).
1. Text alternative
The UIAWPAFA website provides text alternatives for non-text content such as photos, banners, charts and icons, allowing screen readers to convert text to synthetic speech so that the visually-impaired can understand what the non-text content represents.
2. Skip to the main content
We have included links for the visually-impaired to skip the left and top navigation menus, diverting them to the main content of the respective page. It offers much convenience as they do not need to go through navigation menus repeatedly.
3. Font size
UIAWPAFA website offers three levels of font size, serving the needs of different people. If the largest font size does not suit your needs, you can enlarge it by changing settings in your browser as follows:
Internet Explorer: Click "View" in the top menu > Text size
Firefox: Click "View" in the top menu > Zoom > Zoom In
Chrome: Click "More" at the top right > Zoom
Safari: Click "View" in the top menu > Zoom In
4. Keyboard accessible
The visually-impaired may not be able to use a mouse and rely on keyboard to browse a website. The UIAWPAFA website was designed in a way that you can use the keyboard exclusively to access all content. For example, when you press the tab key, the cursor will move to hyperlinks one by one in a logical order.
5. Colour contrast
The visual presentation of text and images of text in the UIAWPAFA website have been enhanced to ensure sufficient contrast for better viewing. 3 versions of the website is also available.
UIAWPAFA strives to adopt web accessibility design to facilitate easy access to online information. For any questions about the accessibility of UIAWPAFA website, please contact us via hkiasec@hkia.org.hk.
