Accessibility

All applets, plug-ins, or other applications required by GSA web pages that are not included on the specific page are found as links from this page. Most of these links are to non-government sources. GSA does not endorse any of these products; they are listed below for the convenience of our visitors. Address questions about the particular plug-in or file viewer to the respective vendor.

Adobe Acrobat

Use Adobe Acrobat to read Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft offers file viewer and converter programs to enable those who do not have MS-Word or have another version of MS-Word to open and view MS-Word files.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft offers Microsoft offers to enable those who do not have MS-Excel or have another version of MS-Excel to view MS-Excel files

Web & Mobile Accessibility

We are striving to meet online usability and design requirements recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. We are using design standards that help customers identify, interpret, understand, and interact with information presented on our websites.

Software Recommendations and Settings

We follow the W3C’s globally recognized standards to provide content that’s compatible with the most popular assistive technologies and web browsers. We recommend using the most current version (or the version released just prior to) of manufacturer’s assistive technology applications, along with a current version of the browsers listed below. Try different types of browsers with assistive technology applications to determine which combination works best for you.

Screen Reader Applications

We recommend several screen reader applications for customers with vision disabilities: JAWS, VoiceOver, and NVDA. On mobile devices, we recommend TalkBack for Android and VoiceOver for iPhone and iPad.

If you use Internet Explorer, use JAWS as your screen reader; if you use Firefox, then use NVDA as your screen reader. 

Browsers

We recommend using the most current version (or the version released just prior to) of Edge, Safari, Firefox or Chrome.

Use the browser controls to adjust the size and colors of content on a web page. We’ve designed our website content to work with these controls.

Despite our efforts to make every webpage and content fully accessible, some content may not be fully adapted to the strictest accessibility standards. This may be a result of not having found or identified the most appropriate technological solution.

Change font sizes in IE

• IE7: From the Page menu, choose the Text size option
• IE6 and below: From the View menu, choose the Text size option

Change colour and font settings in IE

1. From the Tools menu, choose Internet Options
2. Select the Accessibility… button (bottom right)
3. By checking the desired checkboxes, you can force the browser to ignore the colours, font styles and font sizes

Disable images in IE

1. From the Tools menu, choose Internet Options
2. Select the Advanced tab (top right)
3. Scroll down to the Multimedia section
4. Untick the checkbox labelled Show pictures

Change font sizes in Firefox

• From the View menu, choose the Text Size option

Change colour and font settings in Firefox

1. On OSX: With Firefox in focus, select the Firefox menu, followed by Preferences
2. On other platforms: From the Tools menu, choose Options
3. Select the Content tab. To select fonts:
   
   1. Within the Fonts & Colors section, select the default font and size from the drop-down menus
   2. Clicking the Advanced… will display a new dialog. To enforce your previous font selection, untick the checkbox Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above
4. To select colours:
   
   1. Within the Fonts & Colors section, click the Colors… button
   2. The dialog that appears allows you to select a colour palette that best suits you
   3. To enforce your colour selection, untick the checkbox Allow pages to choose their own colours, instead of my selections above

Disable images in Firefox

1. On OSX: With Firefox in focus, select the Firefox menu, followed by Preferences
2. On other platforms: From the Tools menu, choose Options
3. Select the Content tab
4. Untick the checkbox labelled Load images automatically

Further help

Still need help? If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any Joint Commission content, please contact:

E-mail: info@hherf.org
Phone: +442071014935