Accessibility

Learn about the accessibility features available through the Government Communications Office website to ensure an accessible experience for all individuals visiting our website.

The Government Communications Office (GCO) is committed to providing website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities. The GCO’s website fully complies with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Levels A, AA and AAA accessibility standards (explained below).

To further enhance users’ browsing experience, we have integrated the award-winning and industry-leading “UserWay Accessibility Widget,” which offers a variety of features designed to improve accessibility.

Newly-introduced accessibility features

You can access the UserWay widget by clicking the accessibility icon located at the bottom of our vertical navigation menu. From there, you can customise your browsing experience to suit your individual needs.

These features include:

Dyslexia-Friendly Fonts: Provides specialised fonts designed to improve readability for users with dyslexia.

Cursor Enhancements: Includes features such as a larger cursor, reading mask and reading guide to assist users in following on-screen content more easily.

Tooltips: Displays additional context and explanations for images and other elements when hovered over or focused on, aiding comprehension.

Page Structure Overview: Provides a clear outline of a page’s layout, including headings and sections, to facilitate navigation.

Saturation Control: Allows adjustment of colour intensity, including options for low and high saturation and a desaturate mode for greyscale viewing.

Dictionary: Offers definitions and additional context for selected words, supporting better understanding of content.

Screen Reader: Provides auditory feedback for on-screen content as well as a speech feature for text, descriptions and navigational elements to assist users with visual impairments.

Contrast Adjustments: Includes options to invert colours, switch to dark or light modes and apply smart contrast to enhance readability based on user preferences.

Highlight Links: Visually emphasises hyperlinks to make navigation more intuitive.

Text Modifications: Allows users to increase text size, adjust line height and modify text alignment for improved readability.

Pause Animations: Enables users to stop on-screen animations, reducing distractions and aiding those with motion sensitivities.

Hide Images: Offers the option to remove visual elements, focusing solely on text content for a simplified viewing experience.

More information about the GCO website’s accessibility standards below

Website Accessibility Overview

Websites should be designed and developed to ensure accessibility for all. This section provides an overview of accessible web design and development principles, with links to additional resources.

The first step in creating accessible websites is understanding diverse user needs. The W3C defines these user groups as follows:

May not be able to see, hear, move or able to process some types of information easily or at all
May have difficulty reading or comprehending text
May not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse
May have a text-only screen, a small screen or a slow Internet connection
May not speak or understand fluently the language in which the document is written
May be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with (e.g. driving to work, working in a loud environment, etc.)
May have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser or a different operating system than the site was designed for.

Priorities for Accessible Web Design

The W3C has established guidelines for site designers and developers to help them better meet the needs of all website users.

The W3C outlines three sets of priorities for accessible website design:

Priority 1 or ‘A’ level accessibility

Achieving this level is a basic requirement for some groups to be able to access information and use web documents. A web content developer must satisfy this level.

Priority 2 or ‘AA’ level accessibility if this and priority 1 are satisfied

Achieving this level removes significant barriers to accessing information in web documents. A web content developer should satisfy this level.

Priority 3 or ‘AAA’ level accessibility if this and Priority 1 and 2 are satisfied

Achieving this level improves access to web documents. Web developers should meet these requirements to ensure broad accessibility, otherwise one or more groups will find it somewhat difficult to access information.

Designing and developing accessible websites ensures all users have the best possible experience. Adherence to W3C standards typically results in improved search engine performance, cross-browser compatibility, faster loading times and better functionality across various devices—all crucial in today’s connected world.

Tell us what you think

We are committed to improving the accessibility of the GCO website. We value your input on the site’s usability and welcome suggestions for improvement. Help us by sharing your feedback, comments or questions to media@gco.gov.qa