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You are here: HomeAccessibility

Australian Government departments are obliged by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 to ensure that online information and services are accessible by people with disabilities. Departments are also required to make online resources accessible to people with technical constraints, such as older browsers and lower speed Internet connections.

This web site meets the Australian Government web standards by incorporating all relevant priority one and most priority two and three requirements from the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

This web site has been developed to display adequately on all commonly used browsers and to work effectively with accessibility hardware and/or software.

For technical reasons and to meet legal requirements, this web site has a limited number of documents that cannot be provided in HTML format. In such cases contact details have been provided for the supply of alternative non-web formats.

Access Keys - specific only to Online Services

The main sections on the Online Services website have been set up with keyboard shortcuts. The shortcuts operate as follows:

• Home
• Search
• Tab Navigation
• Main Content
• Contact us
• Accessibility
• Footer

Most browsers support selecting specific section of the site by using:

• Windows: ALT + an access key
• Macintosh: Control + an access key

Example: To access Main Content of the Online Services site and skip all other sections hold ALT and press the 4 key (for Windows).

Full Keyboard Access

MouseKeys (Windows)

Mousekeys is an accessibility feature designed for people who have difficulty using a mouse. MouseKeys allows you to use the numeric keypad to control the movement of the mouse pointer.

To activate MouseKeys for Windows -

• Display the Start menu by pressing CTRL+ESC (or the Windows logo key).
• Select Control Panel by pressing C. The Control Panel will display.
• Make sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are displayed). If not, in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View by pressing the TAB key.
• Press ENTER.
• Press the RIGHT ARROW key, and then the LEFT ARROW key to select Accessibility Options.
• Press ENTER. The Accessibility Options dialog box will display.
• Select the Mouse tab by pressing CTRL+TAB.
• To turn on MouseKeys check the Use MouseKeys checkbox by pressing M. Note: To turn off MouseKeys, clear the Use Mousekeys check box by pressing M.
• To access MouseKeys settings be sure that the Use MouseKeys option is selected.
• Select Settings by pressing S. The Setting for MouseKeys dialog box will be displayed.
• Select the options you want by pressing the underlined letter in the option.
• Use the arrow keys to move the sliders.
• Press ENTER twice to save your settings and close the dialog boxes.
• Close the Control Panel by press ALT+F, C.
• Use a shortcut to turn MouseKeys on or off by pressing left ALT+SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Press U).
• For more information on using MouseKeys, see these Windows Help by pressing F1 key.

Mac OS X shortcuts

• Turn full keyboard access on and off - Control + F1
• Highlight the Menu bar - Control + F2
• Highlight the Dock - Control + F3

Tabbing between navigation links and fields in forms.

• All navigation links are accessed via the keyboard.
• All forms allow tabbing between consecutive fields.

Note: When using the Tab key to proceed through form fields, use the arrow keys to select unselected radio buttons, in conjunction with the Tab key. Reverse tabbing through page links is possible using Shift-Tab.