Accessibility on the MindMyHouse website
Here at MindMyHouse, we have made a really big effort at making the MindMyHouse website as accessible as possible to all people. To do that, we have followed standard accessibility and usability good practice as recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Royal Institute of the Blind (RNIB).This has meant a great deal of extra work for us, but we think it's worth it.
The website is guaranteed to work in a variety of web browsers and platforms (including screenreaders and other assistive devices), but if it doesn't work in somewhere in the world, just drop us a message and we will see if we can fix it. See further below for a list of supported web browsers.
For the technically minded, we have developed our pages using standard XHTML and CSS specifications published by the W3C. We have also endeavoured to ensure that most top level pages are fully validated and aim to comply with the AA (or level 2) of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines. Where possible, we have incorporated many AAA (or level 3) features like table-less CSS layouts, which will make life much better for those screenreader users out there.
Access keys/keyboard shortcuts
You can use the following access keys on the site:
Windows, press ALT + AccessKey then ENTER
Macintosh, press Control + AccessKey.
- Access key S - Skip navigation
- Access key 1 - Home page
- Access key 2 - House sitters area
- Access key 3 - Home owners area
- Access key 4 - Community
- Access key 5 - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Access key 6 - Advice
- Access key 8 - Terms and conditions
- Access key 9 - Contact us
- Access key 0 - Accessibility
Text size
You can increase the size of the text on this website easily by going to the view menu and selecting text size in your web browser. Text sizes can be scaled up or down in this way. If you have selected a very large type size, you may want to consider changing the layout – you can do this by selecting the large and simple view, or the default view.
Javascript
Javascript has been used sparingly on our site. If you don't have it turned on in your web browser, don't worry, the site will still work perfectly without javascript enabled. All you will be missing is some rich functionality and mapping (provided by Google), but all of the core functionality and all content is still fully accessible without javascript. The Local Sitter search will still work without the Google mapping components and provides text-only results.
Display
The MindMyHouse website can be best viewed at 1024x768 pixels or larger. It will also work at smaller sizes (eg. 800x600) although you may encounter the occasional layout problem. This can be resolved by changing the stylesheet at the top right (also in the footer) of the MindMyHouse webpage or increasing your screen's resolution.
Browsers
The MindMyHouse website is supported in the following browsers:
| Browser | Platform | Tested | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 | PC | yes | |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 | PC | yes | |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 | PC | yes | Support is limited: we recommend you upgrade to the latest version (7) |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2 for Mac | Mac | no | This browser is no longer supported by Microsoft and has too many browser bug to support. Recommend Mac users switch to Firefox or Safari. |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 | PC | yes | Support is limited: we recommend you upgrade to the latest version (7) |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer less than version 5 | PC/Mac | no | Support is limited: we recommend you disable stylesheets in the preferences – accessibility panel or even better, upgrade to version 7. |
| Mozilla Firefox all versions 1.0 and up | PC/Mac/Linux | yes | |
| Opera 7.22 | PC/Mac/Linux | yes | |
| Safari all versions 1.0 and up | Mac | yes | |
| Netscape all versions 7.0 and up | PC/Mac/Linux | yes | |
| Others | PC/Mac/Linux | no | As long as a web browser or web-enabled device follows the WC3 specification, then the MindMyHouse should be viewable. If you are experiencing any problems, we recommend you disable stylesheets in the preferences. |
Known problems
There are known problems with 'content blocking software', 'ad blocking software' or software that filters content (to protect children etc) installed on your computer. It could be removing certain keywords, links or even whole pages from the MindMyHouse website. In particular, common anti-virus and security products like Norton Internet Security will strip out content around the word ‘advert’, irregardless of which web browser you are using.
To see the correct version of MindMyHouse with all of its functionality intact you will need to either turn this content blocking software off or edit your preferences to add the website www.mindmyhouse.com to the list of sites exempt from content and ad blocking. We currently have no external advertising on MindMyHouse. The term 'advert' is only used to refer to our members listings for house sitting services.
