Standards, your Browser and Optimising this Site

Standards

This website complies with the XHTML and CSS2 standards, as explained in our standards compliance statement.

Some older browsers (Internet Explorer 4 and Netscape 4 for Windows, and Internet Explorer 5 for Mac, and any earlier versions of these) have poor support for web standards, and will not be able to render this site correctly.

Modern browsers will render the site correctly and the site has been tested on Internet Explorer 6 and above, the Mozilla family of browsers (Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox, Galeon, Camino), Safari, Omiweb, Opera and Konqueror.

If you have problems viewing this site then you are advised to upgrade your browser.

The site is also viewable without loss of information in text-only browsers such as Lynx.

Optimisation

Changing the display of the site with your browser

You can change the way your internet browser displays these pages (and any others) by changing the way your browser behaves. If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts rather than a mouse, you can find a full list of the ones for Internet Explorer on PCs at Internet Explorer 6 Step by Step Tutorials.

Internet Explorer and Mozilla-based Browsers

From our web statistics we know that the main browsers (programs) that people use to access our site are Internet Explorer and browsers from the Mozilla family of browsers, particularly Netscape and Firefox. If you look at the very top of your browser screen (the title bar) you should be able to see which browser you are using. The following information concerns these two browsers; apologies if you use a different browser, however you should find that the equivalent options exist for your browser; consult its documentation for clarification.

Refresh and Reload

It is occasionally possible that your browser may not show the most recent version of a page. This is commonly because of 'browser caching'. This is where your computer makes a copy of pages you visit often so that next time you visit time can be saved by not having to reload them. Sometimes this may mean your computer does not check our site to see if the page you are visiting has been changed.

If you have any reason to think this is happening, you can get round it by pressing the Refresh (Internet Explorer) or Reload (Mozilla) button at the top of your screen. This will always give you the latest version of the page you are visiting.

Changing the text size

When we designed this site, we tried to use as large a text size as possible. However, we also had to make sure we could get as much information as we could on the screen to make it easier for you to find your way round the site. If you would find it helpful to have smaller or larger text, you can change this yourself in one of two ways:

Your can change the font size by clicking on the icons containing the letter 'A' at the top right of the screeen. Further information on the accessibility features of the site is also available.

You can change the font size with your browser:

  • With Internet Explorer, click on View at the top of the screen and then select Text Size. You will then be able to choose different font-sizes.
  • With a Mozilla based browser, click on View at the top of the screen and then select Increase Font.

Changing the font

We have designed this site with Verdana as the font for the main content. Some people prefer a different style of font, such as Times New Roman (which is similar to that used in newspapers). You can change the font displayed on web pages yourself, but it is a bit fiddly to do:

In Internet Explorer:

  • Click on Tools at the top of your screen and select Internet Options.
  • Click on the Accessibility button, and then click in the box next to Ignore font styles specified on web pages, then click on OK.
  • Click on Fonts, and then choose a font from the left-hand list (web page font).
  • Click the OK button on both boxes.

In Mozilla-based browsers

  • Click on Edit at the top of your screen, and then select Preferences.
  • Double-click on Fonts in the list on the left.
  • Make sure the box next to Use my default fonts, overriding document specific fonts is selected.
  • Choose a font from the menu next to Variable Width Fonts.
  • Click on OK.