Accessibility

Our policy on accessibility generally

Our aim is to provide top class facilities for all users of the courts, including judges, staff, legal practitioners, victims, witnesses, accused persons, media and members of the public.

Providing facilities for all court users

Everyone who attends courts presents with a different set of circumstances, a varying degree of understanding and a personalised set of needs. We recognise that access does not stop at the level of physical access to and within buildings. We are conscious that access to information, the understanding of court processes and inclusion in court proceedings need to be provided in an atmosphere of equality. We are engaged in a major programme of improvements and enhancements to improve facilities across a wide variety of areas including court buildings, publications and our website.

Measures we have taken to improve access to the courts;

• Members of the public and those with cases before the court can adapt hearing aids to make use of induction loops which form part of our public address system in the courtrooms of refurbished buildings
• All refurbished courthouses have signage and directions at doorways and entrances and exits
• Signage and contact details for court offices are in Braille
• Wheelchair ramps are provided in many courthouses
• Wheelchair users can give evidence in many courthouses at the front of the court beside the witness box

Access officer

Lauri Walsh. Tel. +353 1 888 6080. Email QCSO@courts.ie

Our website

We aim to present the content of our site in plain language in so far as is possible. In some sections the text used may be more legalistic because of the nature of the content (for example, court rules, references to legislation and court judgments).

We are committed to ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities. The majority of pages on our site conform to WC3/WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Conformance Level A. These are the guidelines adopted by the Irish National Disability Authority. We have also used the Bobby tool and a Vischeck (for colour contrast) to test our website for compliance. We are working on an ongoing basis to improve our level of compliance and as such are aiming at level 2 (AA) compliance in the near future. Please bear with us while we work to improve the accessibility level of our site.

Listen to our site with Browsealoud

You can now listen to our website being read aloud using a free download called Browsealoud. This is particularly useful for people with reading difficulties, reduced sight or English language issues.

This tool will make our site easier to understand and navigate. To hear the text that you want read, simply move your cursor over it and Browsealoud will read and speak what you have selected.

To install Browsealoud

For more information on how to install this free software visit www.browsealoud.com or
simply click on this link >> <<

Once installed, you can use Browsealoud to listen to content from other organisations who are using it on their websites.

Our publications

We aim to present our leaflets and booklets in plain language, in a variety of languages and in a variety of formats. All our publications are published to our website in PDF. Many are also published in HTML.

If you experience any difficulty in the accessibility or general usability of our site (whether relatedto disability or not), or have general suggestions for improving the site design then we would greatly appreciate hearing from you. Please e-mail your comments and suggestions to: sitecomments@courts.ie