Website Help

This help section should assist you if you are having difficulty using our website or finding what you need.

If, after reading this, you are still having difficulty, then email the Website Manager , who will be happy to help.

How do I move around the site?

To access different pages on this site you can either use the menu options provided along the top of the screen, which drop down to reveal additional links when you hover your mouse over them (see the illustration of the News and Links dropdowns). All the sections - About Us, News, Policy, Programmes, Information, Help and Links have dropdown menus like this. The different sections have dropdown menus in different colours so that you can easily see where you are in the site. (To comply with accessibility guidelines, the drop-down menus are initially turned off. They are turned on by ticking the 'Drop down menus' box at the left hand side of the front page.)

After you click on one of the dropdown links, you will be taken to the page you have requested. Then, you will see additional navigation down the left had side of the page, such as the ones illustrated below:

As you move your mouse pointer (usually an arrow) over these options the cursor will change to a hand-shape signalling a link to the relevant web page. A short description of the contents of each section will also appear in the lower left-hand side of the screen as you place the mouse pointer over each option. Then just click your mouse button and you will move to your chosen page. Images such as photographs or logos are also sometimes clickable links to further information. To find out, place your mouse pointer over images for a second or two and a short description will appear and explain where the link will take you.

What do the buttons on the right hand side of the page do?

The navigation buttons on the right hand side of the screen are from every page to allow you to perform special functions from wherever you are in the site.

clicking on this will bring you to this Help page

clicking on this will make the page you are viewing suitable for printing : it will make the page fit a normal A4 page and remove the navigation elements so that you just get the main content when you print it out

clicking on this will open your Add Favourites (Internet Explorer) menu, so that you can bookmark the page

clicking on this will bring up our Email a Friend or Colleague service, which will allow you easily to mail the page to a friend. Just fill in the details of your own email address and that of the person you wish to send it to, together with any message, and press Send. The Email a Friend or Colleague page also lists a 'friendly' address for the original page, which can be copied into other emails, or used in publications.

How can I search for what I want?

At the top right of every page on the MLA website there is a box in which you can enter words or phrases you wish to search for. The search covers the titles and descriptions of all the pages on the MLA site, including press releases and other news items.

File Formats

PDF files

Some of our documents are in Portable Document Format (PDF), indicated by this image: To read these documents, you will need to have a program called a plug-in on your computer, which enables your browser software to display the document so you can see it on screen. The one you need to obtain to read PDFs is Acrobat Reader, which is available free. You can download the latest version from here: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html

If you are having trouble seeing our Acrobat PDF documents in your browser, have a look at these hints and tips on the Adobe Acrobat website. If you still have problems, please contact the MLA Website Manager .

If you are a reader with visual impairment, go to Access Adobe site to have the PDF document instantly converted and shown in your browser as HTML, for your speech reader to interpret (you will need to supply the full URL of the document).

Word files

Some of our documents are Word Documents (DOC), indicated by this image: Most of these will have been created using the version of Word which is contained in Office97, and should be readable by most people who have Microsoft Word on their computer. However, if you are having trouble with this, visit the Microsoft website to obtain a free viewer for your particular version of Word. The viewer will also allow you to see the file even if you do not have any version of Word at all.

PowerPoint files

Some of our documents are PowerPoint Presentations (PPT), indicated by this image:   Most of these will have been created using the version of PowerPoint which is contained in Office97, and should be readable by most people who have Microsoft PowerPoint on their computer. However, if you are having trouble with this, visit the Microsoft website to obtain a free viewer for your particular version of PowerPoint. The viewer will also allow you to see the file even if you do not have any version of PowerPoint at all.

Zip files

Some of our documents maybe stored in a Zip file (ZIP), indicated by this image:   Zip files are compressed folders used for distributing and storing files. Zip files contain one or more files and are usually compressed to save space. Windows XP opens Zip files automatically. To open a Zip file on other systems you will need software such as WinZip to unpackage the files. To obtain a copy visit the WinZip website.

RTF files

Some of our documents are in Rich Text Format (RTF), indicated by this image:    This is a generic format of Microsoft Word, which should be readable by people with most versions of Microsoft Word. However, if you are having trouble with this, visit the Microsoft website to obtain a free viewer for your particular version of Word. he viewer will also allow you to see the file even if you do not have any version of Word at all.

Accessibility

Standards

This site has been designed to reflect website design guidelines recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium and adhere to the standards set out in the Guidelines for UK Government websites and e-Government Interoperability Framework (eGIF) , which is mandatory for all public sector bodies.

The site adheres to all the latest accessibility standards relating to visual impairment. Options to skip menu navigation are readily accessible at the top of the home page for users who may be accessing the site using assistive technology such as speech synthesis software, screen magnification or soft Braille displays.

This site has an Access Options page where you can change your accessibility settings.

You can choose to:

• switch dropdown menus on (the default for the site is OFF in accordance with RNIB recommendations);
• increase or decrease text size
• select a new colour scheme for text and background

Access Keys

This website uses an access keys system. To navigate using your keyboard, please hold down your 'Alt' key and press the relevant key from the following list. If you are using an Internet Explorer browser, you will then need to press 'Enter'.

• U − About us
• N − News
• P − Policy
• R- Programmes
• I − Information
• H − Help
• L − Links

Browser, platform and screen compatibility

This site is designed as optimised for the following:

• Internet Explorer version 4 and above
• Netscape Navigator version 4 and above
• Windows
• Apple Macintosh
• a screen resolution of 800x 600 pixels

Feedback

We appreciate your views on our website, particularly if you are having difficulty, as we want to improve it.

Please email the Website Manager with details of any problems or suggestions for improvement.