The design of GovHK has taken into account the capabilities and limitations of the most popular web browsers, and also the needs of people with disabilities. Here you can learn more about the international guidelines on accessibility which GovHK has observed and the various accessibility features built into GovHK.

GovHK conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 to the priority 2 level (Double-A conformance). This means that it meets both basic and advanced accessibility standards and can be used by most people with special needs. GovHK also uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and style templates that standardise all the pages on the website, thus enhancing accessibility.

For guidance on building government websites, you can refer to the Guidelines on Dissemination of Information through Government Websites issued by the Home Affairs Bureau below.

• Guidelines on Dissemination of Information through Government Websites (PDF File)
  http://www.gov.hk/en/about/accessibility/docs/disseminationguidelines.pdf

Apart from observing international and local accessibility guidelines, local representative organisations of disabled groups have been consulted to ensure that GovHK remains accessible to those with special needs. Tests were conducted and discussions were held to further understand the needs of disabled groups in accessing GovHK, and how the website could be enhanced accordingly.

Ensuring a high level of accessibility is an ongoing process, and GovHK is continually reviewed for improvement. Instead of introducing a text version to GovHK, we aim at making GovHK fully accessible to all people with different levels of accessibility requirements. Consideration has been given to the following areas to ensure that GovHK is accessible to all:

Accessible by Popular Browsers and Operating Systems

The HTML 4.01 standard has been applied to the webpages on GovHK, and users can access them with any browser that complies with the standard. But exactly how a webpage is displayed differs between browsers, computers and operating systems. For the best viewing, we suggest that you use Internet Explorer 6 or above for Windows or Firefox 2 or above for Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

Screen Resolution

The content on GovHK can be viewed at the screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, but is best viewed at 1024 x 768 pixels. GovHK content can also be viewed at up to 1280 pixels for wider screens.

Enlarged text size

You can enlarge the text size on GovHK webpages through a set of buttons in the right upper corner of every page. Once you have selected a specific size, the settings will remain on your computer for 2 months. If you visit GovHK again after 2 months, you will need to reset the size.

Linear Presentation

GovHK content can be viewed as a list with content aligned to the left side of the screen, which will help users of screen magnifying devices to browse more easily. They can focus on the left margin of GovHK webpages and only need to move their magnifying devices up and down on the page, without the need to move from left to right. This feature can be activated through the ‘Linear Version’ button in the right upper corner of GovHK pages.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Users who may be less adept at using mouse, such as the blind or those with neuromuscular impairments, may need to use the keyboard without a mouse to browse a website.

GovHK was designed in a way that you can use the keyboard exclusively to access all features and content. For example, when you use the tab key, the cursor will move to all of the menus, hyperlinks or input boxes one by one in a logical order.

Some browsers also provide keyboard shortcuts that can make it easier to browse the website with your keyboard only. Lists of shortcuts for Internet Explorer and Firefox are available through the following links.

• Keyboard shortcuts for Internet Explorer
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/quickref.mspx
• Keyboard shortcuts for Firefox
  http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Keyboard+shortcuts

GovHK has been tested against the common screen readers and screen magnifying software used by the visually impaired in Hong Kong, including JAWS 6.2 and Windows Light 2007. GovHK also works on screen magnifying softwares such as Zoomtext. More details about how GovHK's design addresses the needs of screen reader users are available through the following link.

• How GovHK can be accessed via the assistive tools for the visually impaired
  http://www.gov.hk/en/about/accessibility/assistivetools.htm