Help to view the site

Help with seeing, reading and setting your keyboard and mouse

If you need help with seeing the screen, language and reading or using your keyboard and mouse, for example setting the text colour and contrast or making your mouse pointer easier to see, please visit the BBC's My Web My Way where you will find step by step instructions on how to do this.

The Abilitynet website also provides lots of useful tools to help you make your computer easier to use.  It looks at the many ways you can make your keyboard and mouse, Windows, the internet and your favourite applications suit you and your needs.

Web page reader

Free text to speech software is available online that reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online. Reading large amounts of text on screen can be difficult for those with literacy and visual impairments. 

It can make using the internet easier and offers a practical website access service to a range of people who may:-

• have reading or literacy difficulties
• not be fluent in English as it is not their first language
• have Dyslexia
• have mild visual impairment
• just find it easier to listen, rather than read

All you need to do to install this free software is click here and follow the simple step-by-step guide.

Changing text size

Please use the 'Change zoom level' option at the bottom right of your browser to zoom into a web page.  You can set this to the level which gives you an easy viewing experience. The standard setting is 100%.

Best viewing experience

To ensure you have the best viewing experience browsing our site you need to ensure that you have your favourite/search/history right-hand column closed, that you have maximised the web window and your resolution is set to 800 x 600 or greater.

Website structure

The menu bar, across the top of our website, displays the main information categories available for you to access.  The links (buttons) to the left and right-hand sides give you access to additional information contained within the main categories.

Navigation Assistance: keyboard or mouse?

If you have restricted mobility or wish to avoid repetitive strain injury, you may find it useful to use your keyboard instead of your mouse to navigate our website.  By using 'Tab' and 'Enter' on your keyboard, it is possible to navigate and access all areas of our website.  The 'Tab' key allows you to move and browse amongst the menus and links displayed on each page, and pressing Enter will activate your request for a particular menu or link.  The arrow keys on the keyboard will enable you to move up or down the page or from left to right.

Useful tips for accessing information

PDFs:

Throughout our website we use PDF  (Portable Document Format) documents which are accessed by clicking on appropriate document links.  To view a PDF document, you may need to download the latest version of Acrobat Reader first.  This is a free software package and is available by visiting the Adobe website.