Website accessibility

Your browser already includes a number of ways to change the way our web pages are displayed. Here's how to change settings using Internet Explorer.

To permanently apply font and colour changes

• On the browser Tools menu select Internet Options'
• On the General tab, select Accessibility
• Click on the three boxes to show ticks
• Click on 'OK'

To enlarge text

On the browser Tools menu select Internet Options

• On the General tab, select Accessibility
• Tick the Ignore font sizes specified on web pages check box
• Click on 'OK'

On the browser menu select View

• Click text size
• Choose the size of text

To change text and background colour

• On the browser Tools menu select Internet Options
• On the General tab, select Colour
• Deselect the Use Windows Colours tick box
• Select the box next to Text and choose a colour
• Click on OK
• 'Select the box next to Background and choose a colour
• Click on OK

To prevent graphics and images appearing

• On the browser Tools menu select Internet Options
• On the Advanced tab, scroll down to the Multimedia heading
• Deselect the graphics options animations, videos, pictures and images by clicking on the boxes to remove the ticks
• Click on Apply then OK

To change the size of the window

• On the browser View menu select Full screen or press F11

To change the colour of links displayed on a screen

• On the browser Tools menu select Internet Options
• On the General tab, select Accessibility
• Click on Select ignore colours specified on Web pages (should contain a tick)
• Click in OK

Other options

Other options such as removing animation are available:

• On the browser Tools menu select Internet Options
• On the Advanced tab choose any of the options available to improve the visibility of the web pages.

Other web browsers

There are options to change the way pages are displayed on other browsers. Please refer to your browser's help or information section for details. If in doubt please contact us for help.

Images

We have used images throughout this website to add interest and provide variety. These images have been kept as small as possible and should load quickly. In some cases you are able to click through to a larger version of an image from a thumbnail example.

Each image is accompanied by an Alternative Text or "ALT" tag which provides a description of an image or a function. ALT tags are accessed by placing your mouse over the image.

Text only and printer friendly versions

Although we have aimed to make our core website as accessible as possible to the widest number of people we have also provided additional text only and printer friendly options.

Security

You may need to download a specific browser to use our online transactions service. This is a free download. We cannot guarantee that your online transactions will work if you do not use the recommended software.

Your transaction will take place within a secure payment system. We use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, a standard supported by major internet browsers. All of your personal and card details are protected by using 128 bit protection when transmitted over the Internet. In order for a transaction to take place securely your browser must support 128 bit encryption. If your browser does not support this level of encryption, click on the appropriate icon below to upgrade your browser. For more information see our online payments page.

Useful downloads

PDF files: Adobe Acrobat reader

Some of the pages on this website have been created in Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Format Document) format. To view these documents you will need to download Acrobat Reader. You can get this from Adobe's website.

PDF files cannot easily be read by access technology. Adobe have a website which provides tools to help make PDF files more accessible to the visually disabled. These tools convert Adobe PDF documents into HTML or ASCII text which can then be read by a number of common screen reading programs that synthesize text as audible speech. The address for this site is http://access.adobe.com.

Microsoft Word files: Word viewer

Some documents on this website are provided in Microsoft Word (or DOC) format. If you do not have a word processor that can read these documents, you can download and install Word Viewer from the Microsoft website.

Excel spreadsheets: Excel viewer

Some of the pages on this website have been created in Microsoft Excel format. If you do not have a spreadsheet programme that can open these documents, you can download the Excel Viewer.

Sound files / MP3 files

In order to play audio files you may need to download and install one of the programs below. Windows Media Player is usually installed on new PCs and iTunes is usually on Apple Macintoshes by default. The programs are free of charge by and can be downloaded from the links below.

• Windows Media Player (runs on Windows PCs and Macintoshes)
• iTunes (runs on Windows PCs and Macintoshes)

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