Accessibility

We believe everyone should be able to access all our products and services, no matter how they choose to contact us. We work hard to build our websites so that they are accessible and easy to use, by designing them with reference to guidelines laid down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

So that you can have an improved online experience, we undertook a specific site build incorporating key accessibility factors (see below). We want the site to be easy to navigate, and have designed both content and layout so that it is easy to read.

Changing the size of the text

This website has been optimised for a screen resolution of 1024 x 768. If you are using a screen with a higher resolution, you can change the text size through most browsers, or (if your mouse has a wheel) by holding down CTRL and moving the wheel backward and forward. This site has been further optimised so that, on increasing the font size, the size of the page will increase accordingly meaning the layout need not be sacrificed.

Some modern browsers (such as IE7 and Opera) have a separate zoom function, which as well as resizing the text and the page, will adjust the size of the graphics as well.

News article font size

We understand that reading long articles can at times be difficult, especially when the font size is small. In recognising this problem, we have added a further option on news articles which will allow you to change the size of the article text. It will not affect the font size of the rest of the site and will be reset when you leave that page.

Other ways to increase usability

We use colours both to help structure and segment the page content, and also to make the site look more attractive. However, we recognise that for some users the use of colours and graphics can affect their enjoyment of the site. You can change the colour, background colour or switch off graphics completely by selecting from the options available in your browser.

Screen Readers

We have designed all our pages so that they can be read by screen readers, including any tables containing account information and prices. You can find out more information about screen readers by going to Wikipedia's screen reader page.

External links

We will in some places provide links to external websites, where we do so we will alert you with the following icon Image to notify you of an external link. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Access Keys

Access Keys let you navigate to a particular page without using a mouse. How you use access keys depends on your browser:

Internet Explorer 5+ Hold down the ALT key, press the number you require (see our list of Access Keys below), release both keys and then press ENTER.
Internet Explorer 5+ (Mac) Hold down the CTRL key and press the number you require.
Firefox 1.0-1.5, Netscape 7+ Hold down the ALT key and press the number you require.
Firefox 2.0 Hold down the ALT and SHIFT keys and press the number you require.
Safari (Mac) Hold down the CTRL key and press the number you requrie.
Opera Hold down the SHIFT key and press ESCAPE, release both keys and then press the number you require.

We have implemented the following access codes:

  • 0 = Home page
  • 1 = Our services
  • 2 = Fund research & discounts
  • 3 = Shares & stockmarkets
  • 4 = News & expert views
  • 5 = Pensions & retirement
  • 6 = Portfolio management
  • 7 = My accounts & dealing
  • 8 = Log in

We will continue to take advantage of new developments in browser technology to make sure that our site continues to be accessible as possible. We therefore recommend that you use as up-to-date a browser as you can.

If you have any comments or suggestions as to how we can improve accessibility, please Contact Us.

Key Accessibility Factors

So that you can have an improved online experience, we have incorporated the following key accessibility factors into this site:

  • A standard, easy-to-read font has been used throughout.
  • Simple descriptive text is used to define hyperlinks clearly.
  • Alternative descriptions for images and for links are provided where appropriate.
  • Font sizes can be increased to make the site easier to read.
  • Strong contrast colour palettes make the site easier for visually impaired users and for those using low-colour display devices.
  • The use of Flash or frames has been kept to a minimum, to avoid interference with screen readers.
  • It has been tested across all commonly held browsers (if you access the site through AOL, you can use the IE browser that accompanies it without any problems).
  • All pages on the site conform to the XHTML 1.0 Transitional Standard.