Accessibility

The Humane Society of Ventura County believes that every person deserves the opportunity to connect with and care for animals, regardless of their abilities. Our commitment to inclusivity and accessibility extends throughout our facilities, programs, and services. To fulfill this mission, we now provide Recite Me assistive technology on our website, which enables our visitors to customize their experience in a way that best suits their individual needs. This page provides important information about the accessibility features we have in place to ensure that everyone can enjoy a welcoming experience while visiting our shelter or engaging with us online. 

How do I access the Recite Me toolbar?

You can open the Recite Me accessibility toolbar by clicking on the blue and white circle button in the bottom right corner of each page. The button will turn red as you hover over it. After you click on the blue and white circle button, the Recite Me toolbar opens a the top of the page and displays a range of different options for customizing the way the website looks and ways you can interact with the content.

What can the Recite Me toolbar help me do?

The Recite Me toolbar has a unique range of functions. You can use it to:

• Read website text aloud (including PDFs)
• Download the text as an MP3 file to play it where and when it suits you
• Change font sizes and colors
• Customize background-color
• Translate text into more than 100 different languages
• Access a fully integrated dictionary and thesaurus

We recommend watching this short video to learn more about HSVC's new accessibility tools. 

Recite Me Toolbar Guide

Our website is equipped with Recite Me language and accessibility tools to make it more accessible and inclusive for as many people as possible. Below you will find a guide to using all of the features on the Recite Me toolbar (from left to right).

Audio tools:

• Back: Rewind to the previous paragraph of text
• Play: Click the Play button to read the text aloud
• Forward: Skip forward to the next paragraph of text

Text Tools:

• Decrease: This will decrease the text size
• Font: You can change the font that is displayed on the page
• Focus Text: Emphasize the most critical parts of words, to guide the eyes smoothly through the text
• Increase: This will increase the text size

Language and Color Tools:

• Language Translation: Translate text into a different language.
• Color: Customize the color palette of a website, including the background, text, and link colors.

Focus Tools:

• Ruler: Use the reading ruler to stay focused on lines of content
• Cursor Options: Customize the cursor size and color to help focus on page location
• Screen Mask: Filter out unnecessary distractions to focus on the content you want to read
• Text-Only Mode: Remove all images, video, and design leaving text and links to consume

Reading Tools:

• Dictionary: Easily highlight a word and find the definition on the page
• Magnifier: Like the offline world, zoom x2 onto a section of the website page to aid reading

Download and Settings:

• Download: Highlight a section of text and download it as an audio file to consume offline
• Settings: Adjust your Recite Me toolbar settings
• Reset: This will restore the default settings
• User Guide: This will give you an overview of the Recite Me Toolbar Features