Website Accessibility

This website allows people using text-only browsers or other assistive technology to read the content on the page, including text descriptions for all images. We are actively working to achieve a fully accessible website that conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.

If you are looking for information on accessible customer service, service animals, policies or the Grand River Accessibility Advisory committee, visit our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page.

Other screen-readers

 

Windows Narrator

Windows Narrator is a basic screen-reading program. The program gives speech feedback for menus and dialogue boxes. It does not speak the entire web page. The following steps will enable you to turn on that feature:

  • Click the Start button or press the Windows logo key on your keyboard.
  • Open Programs. Click All Programs or press P on the keyboard until All Programs is highlighted and press Enter.
  • Click Accessories or press A on the keyboard until Accessories is highlighted and press Enter.
  • Click Accessibility. If you are using the keyboard, it will already be highlighted, press Enter.
  • Click Narrator or press N on the keyboard until Narrator is highlighted, press Enter.
  • This opens the Microsoft Narrator box. The Narrator immediately begins to read instructions on how to use the feature.
  • Click OK or press Enter on the keyboard. Another window will appear with various options.
  • Click the checkbox or press the spacebar on your keyboard to customize your options. You can also adjust voice settings by clicking the Voice button or pressing V on the keyboard.

Macintosh VoiceOver Utility

VoiceOver Utility is a screen-reading program built into the latest versions (OS 10.4 and 10.5) of Apple Macintosh Operating Systems. It provides speech feedback for menus and dialogue boxes and can speak out whole web pages once configured.

Visit the VoiceOver website for more information about VoiceOver Utility.

Visit the VoiceOver download section for an accessible PDF manual or audio recordings of the Getting Started manual for VoiceOver Utility.

 

Alternative text

Images on the Region of Waterloo's website have alternative text attributes, often known as alt text. This means that the image can be understood by text browsers and assistive technologies such as screen readers.

Software utilities

Some documents on the Region of Waterloo's website are available in a PDF format. Adobe Reader is required to open these files. You can download Adobe Reader free of charge from the Adobe website.

 Contact us for help

While we make every effort to keep all content on this website accessible to all visitors, please contact us for help if you find any information on this website that you cannot access.

Building an accessible website is an ongoing process and we welcome any comments on how to improve our site's accessibility.

Contact Us