BAnQ Web portal accessibility

• Keyboard access keys
• Skip links
• Alternative content
• Site map
• Compatibility with browsers
• Validation tools
• Description of the icons
• Content that does not comply
• Politique d'accessibilité de BAnQ [French only]

BAnQ's goal is to comply with the Web content standards adopted by the Government of Québec (SQQRI 008)with respect to Web accessibility. At present, some elements of the portal's content do not yet fully comply with these standards.

TopKeyboard access keys

BAnQ's Web portal has been designed so that it is completely accessible from a computer keyboard.

• Key 0: consult the accessibility policy
• Key 1: return to the home page
• Key 2: direct access to the content of the current page
• Key 3: consult the site map
• Key 4: access search
• Key 9: access the "Contact us" page
• Key M: direct access to the main menu
• Key S: direct access to the pop-up menu (when there is one)
• Key H: access the help page

The means for accessing the access keys depend on your computer's browser.
In the case of most browsers that operate with Windows you have to simultaneously press the"Alt" and "Shift" keys along with the access key (do not use the numbers on the number pad), then press "Enter", as the case may be.

In a Macintosh environment, you generally have to simultaneously press "CTRL" and the access key.

For more information, read the Wikipedia article  Access in Different Browsers.

TopSkip links

Located at the top of the page, three links provide direct access to the information sought. 

• The first link leads directly to the content.
• The second link leads to the main menu for the site (which provides access to the home pages of the various topics proposed by BAnQ).
• The third link leads to a pop-up menu (menu to the left) when there is one.

TopAlternative content

Each of the graphic elements on this web portal includes a text description that will be displayed if the visitor decides not to display the images or if he/she cannot display or see the images.

TopSite map

The map of BAnQ's Web portal is available at the bottom of each page of the site. It is also accessible through keyboard access key 3.

TopBrowsers compatibility

You can access this Web portal using recent browsers, specifically Firefox (updated version), Chrome (updated version), Internet Explorer (version 11), Microsoft Edge and Safari (updated version).

We strongly recommend that you do not use Explorer 8.

TopValidation tools

The accessibility of the site is verified with the following tools:

• Web Developer toolbar for Firefox
• online Colour Contrast Analyser
• screen reader (Non Visual Desktop Access)
• Online Nu Html Checker

Icon Description

Non-compliant content

At present, some elements of BAnQ's Web portal content are not in compliance with government standards with respect to Web accessibility. For example, some downloadable documents and multimedia materials available on the portal are not accessible at the present because of the time involved in converting them into proper formats, or because of  technological limitations.

BAnQ will provide assistance to facilitate access to non-accessible materials to any person, upon request. Some of the portal's Web applications contain obstacles to accessibility that will be resolved during a future upgrade. These include:

• Iris catalogue
• Public library statistics (StatBib) – in French only
• Pistard archival tool
• BREF
• Québec e-books (Publications numériques du Québec)
• New releases at the Grande Bibliothèque
• Québec Literary Awards
• Québec bibliography 1821-1967
• Must reads (Romans à lire)
• Images
• Various interfaces highlighting BAnQ's heritage collections
• Blogs
• Moreover, BAnQ cannot guarantee the accessibility of third-party content or applications that are not subject to government standards with respect to Web accessibility.

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