Help
Browsers
This website has been built to comply with accessibility guidelines. In order to do this, we’ve used techniques supported by modern browsers (Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, Safari or Mozilla Firefox).
Modern browsers also make navigation faster and allow us to provide more advanced content and features. This means that if you are using an older browser you may be viewing our website in a more simplified form.
You can download the latest version of your preferred web browser below:
Navigation
The site has been designed to make it as easy and quick to navigate as possible.
Use the menu at the top of the web page to enter the main sections of the site. Once you are in a section, you can get to the more detailed information via the menu that appears on the right-hand side of the screen.
Accessibility
We have built this website to meet W3C accessibility standards. These standards aim to give all users equal access to websites.
To make this website as easy as possible for you to read, you can control the size of the text and the contrast between the text and the background. We have also implemented access keys. These are keyboard shortcuts that you can use instead of a mouse. You can find more information about these options on our Accessibility page.
Adobe PDF
Adobe PDF is a file format which saves existing documents with all their original formatting. This means that when you look at a PDF document, you will see the formatting and layout that the author intended, even if you do not have the program they originally created it in.
In order to view PDF documents, you will need to have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on your computer.
On the Adobe website, make sure that you choose the right options in the drop-down boxes before you download (e.g. Windows XP for your operating system). Make a note of where you are downloading the installation file to (e.g. your desktop). After the download has completed, locate the installation file on your computer and double-click on it. The installation program will do the rest.
Once the Adobe Acrobat Reader software has been installed you will be able to read Adobe PDF files.
Saving a PDF
To save a PDF to your computer, right-click your mouse over the PDF link and select ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’. If you have an Apple computer, click the link whilst holding down the ‘option’ key. You can then save the PDF where you want on your computer.
Accessible PDFs
We recommend that users download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to access Adobe PDF files.
Adobe Reader 7.0 enables users to read and use Adobe PDF documents and forms more easily – and across multiple languages.
For further information about accessibility and PDFs, please visit http://access.adobe.com.
Adobe PDF troubleshooting
I have clicked on the link but my browser’s just gone blank.
Browsers have different ways of downloading PDFs. Most will ask you where you would like the file to download on your machine and show a progress meter as the file downloads. However, some browsers (such as Explorer 5 with Acrobat 4) load in the PDF page by page and don’t show a progress meter. In fact, the file is downloading – the first page should appear after a few minutes.
I’ve downloaded the file but nothing has appeared.
You may need to go to where the file was downloaded on your local drive (probably your c:/windows/temp directory) and click on it from there. If it doesn’t work, your Reader is not working properly and should be reinstalled.
For further troubleshooting suggestions, see Adobe technical support.
News readers
You need a news reader to subscribe to news feeds.
There are many different readers available. Some are web-based and some are programs that you download on to your computer.
Download (for Windows)
Download (for Mac OS X)
Web-based
If you're using Firefox or Opera as your browser, then you can subscribe to content feeds via your browser. Just click the orange icon at the bottom right-hand corner of the page and the page will be added as a bookmark. The bookmark will automatically update with any new content whenever you open your browser.
Macromedia Flash
The site contains animations which are created in Flash format. If you wish to view the animated versions of them you will need Macromedia Flash Player 8 or above installed on your computer. This is available free from the Macromedia site.
Download Macromedia Flash Player
If you do not have Macromedia Flash Player, then you will automatically see alternative content for site elements created in Flash.
