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Site help

Registering with the site

To take part in discussions on the blogs (and as the project evolves, there will be other interactive parts of the site that will be available), you can sign up and register on the site.  All you need is a user name (your real name or other) and an email address.  When you have received your confirmation email, you will be able to login (look for the links just below the main navigation menu), and you will be able to comment on the blog posts. All comments will be moderated before they are publicly viewable. We look forward to receiving your comments!

Social Bookmarking

Each news/blog story has a list of image links at the bottom to allow you to store, tag and share links across the internet. You can share these links both with friends and people with similar interests. You can also access your links from any computer you happen to be using. If you find a news story that you find interesting and want to save for future reference or share it with other people, simply click on one of these links to add to your list.  All of these sites are free to use but do require you to register. Once you have registered you can begin bookmarking.

RSS Website feeds

Feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest blog updates in one place, as soon as its published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from. Feeds are also known as RSS - 'Really Simple Syndication'. To subscribe to a RSS feed, you will see on many websites a little orange icon that you can click on to subscribe with.  First, you’ll need a feed reader, or ‘aggregator’. You can install a feed reader on your computer so that you have access to it on your desktop, or if you prefer you can use an online feed reader. If you are not comfortable installing software on your computer then an online feed reader might suit you best. Online services include Netvibes, Google Reader and Bloglines.

Accessibility

The Great Crane Project website has been developed with the aim that it is usable and accessible for all visitors to the site. There are various types of physical disabilities that impact user interaction on the web. Vision loss, hearing loss, limited manual dexterity, and cognitive disabilities are examples, with each having different means by which to access electronic information effectively. Our goal is to provide a good web experience for all visitors.

Below you will find a list of some of the technology solutions we have integrated to make this website easy to navigate, fast-loading and accessible. To further improve the ease of use and readability of this site, such as increasing the font size, please review the section below on how to customize your browser.

Quick Links

What Helps to Makes Our Website More Accessible?

  • Clean, Simple and Consistent
    Our website uses simple information architecture with uniform navigation and reliable headings throughout. Content layout and graphical design are consistent on every page.
  • The Navigation
    The main navigation, located just below the title banner (Great Crane Project logo area), uses lists. Lists make it easier for screen readers to literally read down the list without having to sort through unnecessary code. Lists also allow the users to use the tab key to move from link to link.
  • Images With Alternative Text
    Photographs and other relevant images on the site are accompanied by alternative text (the ALT tag.) Alt tags provide a written description of the image, which is accessible to screen readers, and it is visible when the mouse is placed over the image. This is also useful for people who have images turned off on their browser, in which case a description will display where the image used to be.
  • Relative Font Sizing
    Relative font size can be enlarged using magnification tools or by changing your browser settings.
  • Style Sheets
    Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used for content layout and graphical elements (color, font styles, custom titles and subtitles, etc.) Using CSS for styling keeps our HTML clean, streamlined, easier to maintain, and it downloads faster. Style sheets can be replaced by the user’s own styles.

    To turn CSS off, and access the content without any formatting, download and install the Firefox Web Developer toolbar or the Internet Explorer Developer toolbar. With these toolbars turning CSS on and off is just a click away, plus they offer many other helpful tools. If you use a different browser, do an Internet search for accessibility for your particular browser.

  • Accessible Via Mouse or Keyboard
    You can use the mouse or keyboard to navigate through our information. The tab key will move the cursor from link to link.
  • No Sound, No Images, No Problem
    Content is accessible without sound, colour, scripts or graphics.

Customize Your Browser to Fit Your Needs

Change font size

In most browsers (example: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera) you could change the font size by following the steps below:

  • Open your browser
  • Click View button from top menu bar
  • Click Text Size (in Opera click ‘Zoom’)
  • Select your option

If your browser uses a different naming convention and you do not see this path, please check the Help menu on your browser. The Help menu is usually the last option on the top menu bar, and it can often be accessed by pressing the keys “Alt” + “H”.

In addition, newer browser versions have a magnifying tool that lets you zoom into a page and display all elements at 150 percent, 200 percent, etc. Look for the magnifying tool with a “+” character. This icon is typically located at the bottom of your browser, on the right, or at the top, below the standard menu tools, on the right. Furthermore, the keyboard shortcut to access this tool is: “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “+” to zoom in, and “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “-” to zoom out.

Shortcuts

  • Keyboard shortcuts: This is a list of the most common keyboard shortcuts in Firefox, and the equivalents in Internet Explorer and Opera (from Firefox website).
  • Mouse shortcuts: This is a list of the most common mouse shortcuts in Firefox, and the equivalents in Internet Explorer and Opera. The shortcuts are for Windows, but most of the Firefox shortcuts should work in Linux, too (from FireFox website).
  • Internet Explorer keyboard shortcuts.

Add-ons

Change CSS

  • Below is the step by step on how to change the style sheet file in Internet Explorer. For other browsers please check the Help menu in your browser.
    • Click Tools from the top menu bar
    • Select Internet Options
    • Select the General tab (first tab)
    • Click on Accessibility button (bottom section, Appearance)
    • Click on checkboxes to ignore all colors and font styles and sizes and/or
    • Click on checkbox: “Format documents using my style sheet”
    • Browse to your personal style sheet and
    • Click OK

We are constantly updating our content and striving to make it accessible. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us.

Difficulty Accessing Material

If you have difficulty accessing any material on this site because of a disability, please contact us we will work with you to make the information available.

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