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Accessibility
We have tried to make this website as accessible as possible and are continuing to make changes to improve the site's accessibity. It currently meets worldwide accessibility standard Bobby approved rating A and W3C A standards for accessibility.
Speech enabling
This website is equipped with Browsealoud, a speech enabling system which reads aloud the words on the page while highlighting them. This can help if you suffer from visual impairment, learning difficulties, low reading skills or if English is not your first language.
The software is free to download and easy to use. You can even control the voice, pitch and speed. Browsealoud is a Windows application and can be used with Internet Explorer 5.5 and Firefox 1.5 upwards.
Click on the logo to download the software and follow the instructions. If you need any assistance to download Browsealoud see the download instructions, on the Browsealoud website.
To stop the reader at any point, press the Ctrl key. To read the words on a particular page, hover the mouse cursor over the words, phrase, button or image. Browsealoud will highlight the words while reading them.
Once you have downloaded the software, the Browsealoud icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen can be used customise the settings. Right click on the icon and choose 'open Browsealoud settings' from the menu. The speech tab on the settings window enables you to choose a male or female voice, and change the speed, pitch and volume of the reader. To read the entire page from where your cursor points, check the 'Continue reading from pointer' box. Otherwise Browsealoud will only read the individual sentences you point to. Additional voices can be installed from the speech engines page on the Browsealoud website.
For more information on the features of Browsealoud, including customisation, see the frequently asked questions on the Browsealoud website.
Reading PDF documents with Browsealoud
Some documents on this website are available to download in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read PDF documents and when using Browsealoud Acrobat Version 7 is recommended. If you do not have it already, you can download it from the Adobe website.
Adjusting text size
The website includes the function to increase the text size for those with visual difficulties. The text size buttons can be found on the top right of the screen, underneath the tabs:
small text | large text
This function allows you to alternate between larger and smaller text sizes.
Keyboard alternatives
If you have difficulty using a mouse there are keyboard alternatives which allow you to navigate around the site. Press the Tab key to move between links, and Return or Enter to select one. Use the arrow keys to move up and down a page. To go back to the previous page press the Backspace key.
Downloading documents
Documents on this website are available to download in Word or PDF format. Most computers are already equipped with the Adobe Acrobat Reader software required to read PDFs. However, if you do not have it already, you can download it from the Adobe website.
Contact us
If you would like to get in touch with us to help with your enquiry please see the Contact us page which contains details for the main departments. Our Service directory offers contact information for our mental health services.
Experiencing problems?
If you experience any technical problems with this website, or would like correct any inaccuracies, please send us your feedback.
