VIEWING TIPS
The City of Sault Ste Marie website has been developed to provide interactive and dynamic page delivery. The site has also been developed using a standards-based approach, incorporating use of the following W3C approved technologies:
- Transitional XHTML 1.1
- Cascading Stylesheets (CS2)
These technologies are best suited to viewing in a web browser that supports the W3C standards on the Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. The more widely-used versions of these browsers include:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6/7
- Mozilla Firefox 1.5 (and above)
- Netscape 7.x
- Apple Safari 1.x
If your current browser does not support these technologies you may wish to update to one of the versions mentioned above. These can be found at:
Screen Resolution
This site has been optimized for viewing in a browser window of 800 x 600.
We recommend configuring your monitor to 32-bit color (true color) at 800 x 600 for the best quality visit to our site. Settings vary depending on the system you are using.
Changing Screen Resolution - Microsoft Windows
The screen resolution of your monitor can be changed using the Display Control Panel - Settings tab. To access this control panel you can:
- right-click on your Desktop and select ‘Properties'; or
- open the Start menu, select Control Panel, and then select ‘Appearance & Themes' (Note: Your computer may not support resolutions greater than 800 x 600.)
Changing Screen Resolution - MacOS
The screen resolution of your MacOS computer can be changed using the Displays control in the System Preferences (available under the Apple menu). In Displays select ‘Display' and change the resolution as desired. (Note: Your computer may not support resolutions greater than 800 x 600.)
Changing Browser Text Sizes
To increase the text size:
- Internet Explorer: View > Text size > Largest
- Firefox: View > Text size > Increase
- Opera: File > Preferences > Fonts > Minimum font size (pixels)
Alternatively, scroll with the wheel of your mouse while still holding down the control key.
Web Design Standards
To ensure equal access to electronic and information technologies, the City of Sault Ste. Marie has designed its corporate website in recognition of persons with disabilities. The design is influenced by W3C recommendations for accessibility.
Universal design calls for appropriate use auxiliary aids and services where necessary to enhance communication.
- Every graphic image will have an "alt" tag and a short description that is intuitive to the user. If a graphic image is used as a navigation element, it will contain text description and direction that is intuitive to the user.
- Every graphic image that uses an image map, alternative text of the hyperlink will be provided.
- The use of frames will be avoided since they cannot be read intelligently by screen readers, create navigation problems and are not supported by all browsers. The City of Sault Ste. Marie cannot be held responsible for sites outside the network that utilize frames.
- Tables will include textual information displayed in a linear form across the table, as well as cells will be named to aid as reference.
- Background colours will be avoided since colour schemes can create problems with legibility.
The following Quick Tips introduce some key concepts of accessible Web design.
http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips/