Home > Website Accessibility
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Website Accessibility |
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In an effort to make The War That Made America website accessible to all users, this page has been created to explain how the website works. This page includes information on how the pages of the site are structured, how the navigational system works, and descriptions of some of the most useful features found on the site.
The topics covered on this page are listed in the following menu. Each menu item is a link to jump directly to the topic. At the end of each topic is a link to return to this menu.
- Site Structure
- Site Navigation
- Site Map
- Browser Plug-ins and Settings
- Offsite Links
- Links to Files
- Keyword Search
- Screen Magnification
All pages of the site are divided into four sections. This format remains consistent throughout the entire site.
The first section contains links to the press releases, events, and the keyword search form to search the through the website and documents for matches to a keyword or phrase.
The second section includes the primary navigation for the site, where you can access areas of content. The way that the navigation works is explained in the next section: Site Navigation
The third section contains the main information of the page.
The fourth section contains the footer, which includes links to administrative and informational pages such as a site map, a form to send the site to a friend, an email address with which to contact us, and a form to sign-up for our newsletter.
The War That Made America logo image located at the beginning of every page is a link back to the site home page.
The main navigation in section two includes links to the main page of each area of the site. These links are always present. After following one of these links to the main page of an area, the navigation in this section will "expand" to allow access to the pages that are within the area.
The footer navigation links, which are found in the fourth section, remain constant throughout the site.
The site map provides a direct link to all of the pages on The War That Made America Website. The links are organized to reflect the navigational structure of the site. Each main section of the site can be "expanded" to offer all of the pages in that section by activating the link for each page. To jump directly to a page from the site map, activate the "Go" link that follows the page name.
The site map feature requires JavaScript to function. An alert message will notify you if you are using a browser that does not support JavaScript or you have disabled it.
A link to the site map, named "Site Map", can be found in the footer navigation on each page of the site.
To successfully use all of the features of The War That Made America website, the following browser plug-ins and settings are required. The site is usable without these, but access to information and features will be limited.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader - Free plug-in for viewing documents in PDF format.
- Macromedia Flash Plug-in - Free plug-in for viewing Flash.
- QuickTime Player - Free plug-in for viewing video clips.
The search forms on the site require JavaScript. You will be able to perform searches without JavaScript, but you will be able to only view the first page of results and unable to navigate through multiple pages of results or to filter results. An alert message will notify you if you are using a browser that does not support JavaScript or you have disabled it.
Hyperlinks to offsite resources such as other websites and specific documents (such as the course catalog) will open in a new browser window. To return to The War That Made America website, close the new browser window.
Link to files (.pdf documents, image files, etc.) will display a dialog box after they area clicked. This box will ask you whether you wish to open the file or download it to your computer.
A note for Mozilla and Safari browser users attempting to open links to files:
Each link is a direct link to a file. After clicking each link, a dialog box will appear in your browser, prompting you to open the file in your browser or to save the file to your computer. Select the option to save the file to your computer. Attempting to open the file directly in your browser is not compatible with some browsers such as FireFox and Mozilla. If you wish to open the file directly from the website in these browsers, you will need to select an appropriate graphics program.
If you are using the Safari browser on a Mac, after downloading the file, you will need to remove the ".html" extension that the browser appends to the file. To perform this action, right click on the file icon and select "Get Info". In the dialog that appears, the filename will be listed in an editable text field under "Name & Extensions". Delete ".html" from the filename and close the dialog. After removing the extension, you will be able to open and view the file.
Keyword Search
The keyword search form, located on all pages of the site, searches the entire site site for pages and documents that contain the keyword or keywords entered into the form. You will get more results if you search on more than one keyword because the search will return pages that have at least one instance of either keyword.
Immediately before the list of results, there is a form that allows you to perform another keyword search, but to filter the search to return all pages, web pages only, or documents only.
Your browser will need to have JavaScript enabled to navigate through multiple pages of results. Without JavaScript enabled, you will be able to access only the first page of results.
To preserve the consistent layout of the site, a specific size has been used for the site's text.
Users having difficulty reading the text are encouraged to take one or more of the following actions to increase the size of the text.
Internet Explorer Browser Users
Enable the accessibility feature within the "Internet Options" menu that permits text size to be increased. Follow these instructions to access this menu:
- From the "Tools" option in the menubar at the top of the browser window, select "Internet Options"
- The Internet Options menu will open. Select the "Accessibility" button near the bottom.
- The Accessibility menu will open. Check the checkbox labeled "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages."
- Select the "OK" button. The Accessibility menu will close. The Internet Options menu will remain.
- Select the "OK" button. The Internet Options menu will close.
Now that the accessibility feature has been enabled, follow these instructions to increase the text size:
- Select "View" from the menubar at the top of the browser window.
- A menu will appear. Select "Text Size."
- Choose the text size that best enables you to view the site.
Firefox, Mozilla, and Netscape Navigator Browser Users
- From the menubar at the top of the browser window, select "View."
- A menu will appear. Select "Text Zoom" or "Text Size."
- Choose the text size that best enables you to view the site.
Please also note that Microsoft Windows does include a screen magnification tool that will magnify the screen. Please consult the Microsoft website for further information.