During the phases of designing and implementing the Internet websites of Gruppo FS, maximum care has been lavished on due compliance with the characteristics of accessibility and usability, so that the pages conform to the technical requirements set out in the Ministerial Decree implementing the Stanca Law (Legge Stanca) (Law 4/2004 "Provisions on facilitating access by disabled subjects to IT tools") and to the WCAG 1.0 guidelines laid down by the international standard WAI Web Accessibility Initative, an initiative of the W3C world consortium dealing with the standardization of Website designing.

Making a website accessible means to enable everyone to fully access the contents, the information and the services available on the website, regardless of the operating system, the surfing tools (devices other than monitors, keyboard or mouse), and the browser settings, and regardless of the connection speed at one’s disposal; access to services and information extends therefore also to those who, because of their disability, need assisting technologies or special configurations.

From a technical viewpoint, all the Group website pages are valid in respect of the doctype XHTML 1.0 Strict, have been typeset using only CSS style sheets, and do not contain inaccessible frames and flash objects; no nested tables have been used. Moreover:

• Text equivalents conveying to the user the same information of non-text contexts have been provided (all the content graphics have a descriptive ALT attribute, the purely decorative graphics have a null content ALT attribute)
• Text and graphics are understandable even if visualized without the colour
• The forms have markers that make the link of a text input field with the relevant text label unique
• The colours have been studied in order to ensure a nice contrast between the background and the foreground colour (text) and avoid the use of excessively bright colours or colours that might cause discomfort when browsing through the pages
• The structure has been realized by using the markers necessary to be interpreted correctly by any web browsing system
• The pages are accessible even in the event that the javascripts have not been supported or have been disabled in the user’s web browsing system
• The fonts have been set with relative size, compatible with the preferences indicated by the user on his browser in the “font size” option
• The forms are set in such a manner as to enable users to access the information, fill in the blanks and send the data through a multiplicity of devices
• Links to external contexts open up in external windows if the javascripts are enabled
• Browsing aids (blocks of links) have been inserted
• The website may be properly browsed through assisted browsing tools.

The websites are tested with the following browsers in separate operating systems:

In order to ensure the widest usability of the website contents, advanced tools in support of browsing, such as key combinations for quick access to the various website sections and quick links to the main browsing and to the content. Have been introduced.

In particular, the implementation scheme of shortcut keys common to all the pages is set out in the following table.
Moreover, in every single page there might be quick numeric access keys, variable depending on the content of the pages themselves and the presence of contextual browsing menus.

We additionally stress that the various browsers disclose different ways to activate the shortcut keys; hereunder we set out those relating to the most widely used browsers:

The Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato websites have been handled and implemented with attention lavished on accessibility for all user categories.

Given the frequency with which the website Homepage changes, it might in some instances temporarily prove not to be accessible.

Accessibility, that is, the ability of computer systems to provide usable services and information without discriminations, is a process and not an end in itself.

Accordingly, site accessibility will be monitored and accompanied by guidelines of technical and editorial evolution of the newsrooms. Some pages, as well as some services, have yet to be made accessible.