Accessibility
We aim to ensure that our website is accessible to as many people as possible. Our site is built to conform with Level AA of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
- the minimum standard as set by the UK Government. Given the size of the site however, it is always possible we may miss or overlook something. If you do encounter difficulty in accessing any part of the website, please let us know by emailing us at service@north-herts.gov.uk 
or phoning us on tel: 01462 474000.
Our website has also been built using valid HTML and CSS coding. This can be confirmed using the W3C Validation checks below:
PDF Documents
A number of documents on the site are displayed as PDFs (Portable Document Format). To read these you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader software. This software can be downloaded free by following the link below:
Adobe Acrobat documents can also be converted back to plain text using Adobe's web-based conversion service: Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents . More information can be found at Adobe's Accessibility Resource Center .
Text Only
Our website is available in a high-contrast text only format. You can find this by clicking on the link at the top of any page.
Text-to-Speech
Our website is speech-enabled using a service called Browsealoud. This is a free-to-download tool that allows users to listen to rather than read the website's content. It is designed to be used by people with reading difficulties or visual impairment. You can download it by following the link below:
Access Keys
Access Keys provide keyboard users with shortcuts to frequently used pages. The Access Keys for this website are as follows:
S - Skip to main content
1 - Homepage
2 - Latest news
3 - Site map
4 - Search
5 - A-Z of Services
6 - Online Services
7 - Comments, Compliments & Complaints
8 - Copyright and Disclaimer
9 - Contact us
0 - Accessibility
How to use Access Keys
Internet Explorer: press ALT + Access Key, followed by Enter.
Firefox: press Shift + ALT + Access Key together.
Opera: press Shift + Esc, followed by Access Key.
Safari: press Ctrl + Access Key.
Chrome: press ALT + Access Key.
Changing text and colours in your browser
Most web browsers (e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) allow you to choose the text sizes, styles and colours, and the background colours of web pages displayed on your computer. You can also choose the colours used to indicate links available to visit and links already visited. This can be useful if you have a visual impairment or need high contrast colours.
Below are some guidelines on how to change text size and colours in different browsers.
Internet Explorer
- Open your Internet Explorer Web Browser.Select 'Tools' from the menu at the top of your window.
- From the options which appear, select 'Internet options'.
- Click on the 'General' tab.
- Click on the button marked 'Accessibility'.
- To change your font size, select the checkbox marked 'Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages'.
- To remove background and font colours, select the checkbox marked 'Ignore colours specified on web pages'.
- Click OK (and again if necessary).
- Select 'View' from the menu at the top of your window.
- From the options which appear, select 'Text Size'.
- Select your desired text size.
Firefox
- Select Tools/Options
- Select Content
- Set the default font & font size in the 'Fonts & Colours' section
- Click the 'Advanced' button
- Chose your preffered fonts & sizes for the categories listed
- Untick the 'Allow pages to choose their own fonts' tick box
- Click OK to return to the previous menu, then OK again.
Translation services
Automatically translated versions of this website are available in several different languages. Further information and links are available on the Translation and Transcription Services page.