The site has been tested and found to be displaying properly on the following:

• Internet Explorer 6 and above on Windows
• Internet Explorer 6 on Mac
• Firefox 2.0+ on Windows
• Safari 1.0.3 on Mac
• Opera 8.01 and 9 on Windows

On certain old browsers where the browser's zoom function is activated, the top menu will at times span two rows.

Should you have an issue with this it can be solved the following way:

1. Click anywhere within the browser window
2. On the keyboard press CTRL and the "-" or "+" keys to change the zoom level until a workable solution has been found.

The website uses relative font sizes which can be resized in your web browser. On the top of our website, to the right of the search function, there are two icons using the letter 'a'.

If you hover over the icons with your cursor, you will see 'alt tags' that tell you what each button does. From left to right, they are:

• Large Text Size — A+ (this will increase text size)
• Small Text Size — A- (this will decrease text size)

The text size buttons alter the text size only.

Changing font size by using your browser settings

You can also change text size through your browser functions.

In Internet Explorer, you do this by clicking on the 'View' menu in the browser tool bar, select 'Text Size', then you can choose either: 'Large'; 'Larger'; 'Medium'; 'Smaller'; 'Smallest'.

In Netscape Navigator, go to the 'View' menu in the browser tool bar, select 'Increase Font' or 'Decrease Font' until the text is set to the size you prefer.

You can also change text size by changing the screen resolution on your computer monitor.

In a Windows based computer, you do this by right clicking on your desk top, select 'Properties', click on the 'Settings' tab, then moving the 'Screen Area' slider to the left for low resolution, which makes text size larger, or to the right, which makes text size smaller.

Our website is designed to be viewed at a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels or above, but is best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.

However, you can view it at a lower resolution, but this will probably mean you having to scroll sideways on some pages.

This will depend on a number of things such as the size of your monitor and what version of Internet Explorer or other web browser you have installed on your computer.

You can download an updated version of Internet Explorer from the Microsoft website, and other browsers such as Netscape Navigator from the manufacturer's or developer's website.

Netscape Navigator is produced for Macs by Apple and can be downloaded for free from the Apple website.

As well as navigating through the website with a mouse, you can also navigate by using the tab key on your keyboard.

Internal links will open in the same browser window. Most links to external websites will open in a new browser window. Where a link opens in a new window, there will be an icon to illustrate this.

Downloadable text files will open in a new browser window.

Where possible, downloadable text files will be available in both Portable Document Format (PDF) and rich text format (rtf) where we have not made the information available on a web page.

To view PDF files, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, and links will be provided so you can download the software for free from Adobe's website.

Links to downloadable text documents will include information on the size of the file to be downloaded.

Files in rich text format can be opened by most basic word processing programmes, and your computer will usually come with this type of software already installed.

Read Out Loud
The latest version of Adobe Reader, comes with the ability to 'read' the PDF content to you. This function is known as 'Read Out Loud' and can be accessed as follows:

With the PDF you want read to you open in Adobe Reader version 6 or later, go to the 'View' menu and select 'Read Out Loud', you will then have the option to 'Read This Page Only' or 'Read To End Of Document'.

You can download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe's website.

You can find a range of useful information on accessibility from the following websites:

JAWS
JAWS for Windows is, 'A software programme that reads information on your screen using synthesized speech. JAWS provides many useful commands that make it easier to use programs, edit documents, and read Web pages. With a refreshable braille display, JAWS can also provide braille output in addition to, or instead of, speech.

A free 30 trial version of JAWS can be downloaded from Freedom Scientific's website.

Alternative web browsing
The Web Accessibility Initiative provides information on alternative web browsing. The purpose of the information is, 'To reflect the whole range of approaches used for browsing.' Find out more from the Web Accessibility Initiative's website.

Web Accessibility Initiative
'The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) commitment to lead the Web to its full potential includes promoting a high degree of usability for people with disabilities.' Find out more from the Web Accessibility Initiative's website.

RNIB - Royal National Institute for the Blind
The RNIB has developed a Web Access Centre. 'The Web Access Centre site has been developed as a free online resource centre for designers and managers.' Find out more from the Web Access Centre website.

Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is 'An independent body established in April 2000 by Act of Parliament to stop discrimination and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.' Visit the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) website.

You can read the DRC's Formal Investigation report: web accessibility.