Further information

What this guide covers

This guide covers the basic changes you can make to the settings of your browser (the program you are using to access the Internet - e.g. Internet Explorer) such as:

• changing the size of the text;
• changing colours and styles, and;
• navigating around the site without a computer mouse or other device (using Access Keys).

It also covers what you will need to download documents from our website.

Please note the information here explains how to change settings in the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, as our statisitcs show that these are by far the most widely used browsers by visitors to our website.

Changing the size of text

You can use your browser to change the size of the text on the screen. How you do it depends on which browser you are using - use the appropriate instructions for your browser below:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer: Click on the View menu > point the cursor over the Text Size option > choose a text size from the menu that appears.
• Mozilla Firefox: Click on the View menu > choose Text Size > choose either 'increase' or 'decrease'. You can also use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl + + to increase the size, or Ctrl + - to reduce it.

Changing fonts, colours and styles

You can change the colours and styles (e.g. the type of font) that we have used on our website. How you do it depends on which browser you are using:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer: Click on the Tools menu > choose Internet Options > click on the colors button, or choose the Accessibility button to tell your browser to ignore the styling we have given our website. You can also choose to use your own stylesheet (a file which controls how text and colours are displayed by the browser) if you have one.
• Mozilla Firefox: Click on the Tools menu > choose Options > click on the Content option > under 'Fonts & colours' you can set your preferred font and font size to use on web pages. Click on the Advanced button, and you'll see an option called 'allow pages to choose their own fonts'. If you check this, the browser will use all the style settings we have applied - uncheck it and web pages will use your preferred fonts and font sizes etc.
• If you use Mozilla Firefox and you want to ignore the layout we have set for the site (i.e. you would like to see a text only version of the website), click on the View menu > point the cursor over the Page style option then select No Style from the menu that appears.

Please note any changes you make to your browser will still apply no matter which websites you visit after ours, so to change anything you will need to go back into the relevant menu and reset it.

Using Access keys to navigate our website

Access keys are keyboard 'shortcuts' that let you get to certain key pages of our website without the need for a computer mouse (or other device). Below is a list of all the Access keys we use on this website, followed by an explanation of how to use them:

• S = skip navigation - this jumps to the content on the web page, bypassing all the links to other pages (known as navigation).
• 1 = homepage
• 2 = what's new (you need to be on the homepage of our website to use this Access Key)
• 3 = Site map
• 4 = search
• 6 = help (including Access Key details)
• 8 = privacy statement
• 9 = contact details & online enquiry form
• D = directions to our offices
• O (letter O) = do it online

Using Access keys if you use a Windows PC

Press the Alt key and the Access Key together, then release the keys and press the Return key - the page you have chosen will be loaded (e.g. press Alt and 1 together, then press the Return key to go to our homepage). Note if you use the Mozilla Firefox browser there's no need to press the Return key.

Using Access keys on Apple Mac computers

Press the Ctrl key at the same time as the Access Key and you will be automatically taken straight to the right page.

Downloading documents from our website

Some of the information on our website is contained in a format that can be downloaded. This means that you don't look at the information on our web page - instead you download a copy which you can save to your computer and read offline (when you're not connected to the Internet). The download files on our website are in PDF format - PDF stands for Portable Document Format.

Opening PDF files

All you need is the Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your computer to open and save these files. Most computers these days come with the Adobe Reader already installed, but if you haven't got the software on your computer - or you want to get the very latest version of it - visit the Adobe website, where you can download the software you need free.

Whenever we publish PDF files for you to download, we always put the filesize in brackets alongside the title of the document. This gives you an idea of how big the file is.

Printing & saving PDF files

Once you have opened a PDF you can either print a paper copy, or you can read it on-screen. Some of the PDFs we provide contain detailed information (e.g. the maps and plans in our Local Plan). The Adobe Reader lets you zoom in and out of the PDF so you can make text and images bigger and easier to understand. The zoom tool is a small magnifying glass with a cross symbol in it (to zoom in) or a minus symbol (to zoom out). It looks like this:

If you want to save a copy of a PDF to your computer, click on the 'Save a copy' button, then choose somewhere to save it to. You will then be able to read the information without having to stay connected to the Internet. The button looks like this:

External links

BBC accessibility: my web my way
This useful site from the BBC explains how to change your computer, web browser, keyboard and mouse settings to suit your needs. It also contains information on accessibility standards and latest news.

Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
These are the W3C's guidelines for making websites accessible to people with disabilities. These are the guidelines that we, along with all authorities in the UK, are following to help us improve the service our website provides.

Adobe website: PDF reader
Download the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which allows you to view and print PDF files from our website, for free.

About links to other websites.