Accessibility

Every effort has been made to make this site as accessible as possible. 

We follow Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines and most pages comply with the guidelines. Where this is not the case we have done our best to make the content as accessible as we can. 

If you require Online Reading Support

In addition we have equipped this site with BrowseAloud. BrowseAloud makes websites accessible to those who require online reading support, which is 20% of the UK population. It works by reading web pages aloud in a human-sounding voice. The user simply hovers their mouse pointer over the text to hear it read aloud. For more information about BrowseAloud and for a free download of the required software, please click HERE. There is a support section at www.browsealoud.com/support and videotours about the product can be found at www.browsealoud.com/videotours. In addition there is a BrowseAloud helpline on 0800 328 7910.

If you need to see the content in a larger size

If you need to see the screen content in a larger size, you can either select one of three sizes of text in the Accessibility panel on the front page (this will persist site-wide), or use your browser's built in Accessibility features to magnify the screen - this is recommended. In Internet Explorer or Firefox, simply hold down the Ctrl key and use your mouse scroll wheel (or hold doen the Ctrl key and press the plus or minus key) to change the size of the on-screen display. In Firefox, you may find that this enlarges just the text. If so, go to the Firefox menu, unselect View > Zoom > Zoom Text Only.

If you require this site in a different language

You can use the Google™ Translate Tool at the bottom of each page to translate it into a different language. Please note that this translation is provided by a third party and is provided for your convenience only, accuracy is not guaranteed.

Accessibility advice for Mac users

The Mac operating system includes many accessibility options, including resizing text, text-to-speech and keyboard alternatives to mouse functions.

Visit the Apple website's accessibility section.

Help with PDF documents

You can download Portable Document Format (PDF) documents using Adobe Reader – available free of charge.

If you have any Accessibility problems, suggestions or feedback please contact us.

Setting up your computer to suit your needs

AbilityNet and the BBC have developed a number of tutorials which tell you how to set up your computer to meet your needs in order to give you a better experience when using the web. For example, you can find out how to:

• change how information is shown on your screen, to get more on, or to see content more clearly
• change colours and fonts, a good idea if you have a visual impairment and need more contrast
• adapt the mouse, for example, to slow it down, make the pointer bigger, or if you’re left-handed  
• change a variety of keyboard settings, including the rate at which the cursor blinks

Go to AbilityNet for more information, or My Web My Way to see the tutorials.

Keyboard shortcuts

You can use keys on the keyboard to move around our website more quickly. These are called shortcuts, and the keys you use depend on your browser. Find information for the four main browsers by selecting:

• Internet Explorer version 5 shortcuts
• Internet Explorer version 6 shortcuts
• Internet Explorer version 7 shortcuts
• Firefox shortcuts
• Opera shortcuts
• Safari shortcuts

Other useful links

You can download free software from the web, and find out about accessibility features for a variety of systems. Choose from the links below:

• www.screenreader.net/ - for access to the award-winning free screen reader Thunder
• www.microsoft.com/enable/training/default.aspx - for details about the Microsoft accessibility wizard and how to use it
• www.opera.com/features/access/ - for details about the Opera browser's accessibility features
• www.accessfirefox.org/ - to enable accessibility features in Firefox and download extentions

External links will open in a new browser window or tab.