SCIE website - help

Accessibility

SCIE is committed to making our website content accessible to all users, regardless of physical, economic or technological circumstances. If you have any problems accessing the content of this site please look at the information on this page. If you do not find what you need, please contact SCIE's Web Development Team (email: webteam@scie.org.uk).

Using our website

How do I make the text bigger so that it is easier for me to read?Open
- Using Internet Explorer, go to View > Text size > and select the size you want
- Using Firefox, go to View > Text size > and select Increase
- Using Netscape, go to View > Text zoom > and select the size you want
- The SCIE website also has 'resize text' buttons at the top of every page.
How do I change colours so that the contrast is better for me?Open
To change the colour of the text and background your browser displays you need to find the Colors option dialogue box.
- Using Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet options > Colors then uncheck Use windows colors and select the colours you prefer.
- Using Firefox, go to Options > General > Fonts and colours then uncheck Use system colours and select the colours you prefer.
- Using Netscape, go to Edit > Preferences > Colors and select Use my chosen colors
How do I move around the site without using a mouse?Open

You can use the Tab key to move between links and between sections of a form on this website. Holding down the Shift key and pressing Tab will move you back up the page. You can use the Return key to follow a link or to select an option in a form. The Up and Down keys allow you to select options from drop-down menus.
Is this website speech-enabled? Open
SCIE's website has been speech-enabled using a tool called BrowseAloud . This makes it easier to use for people who have:
- English as a second language
- Dyslexia
- Mild visual impairments
- Low literacy and reading skills
BrowseAloud is free and easy to use. Once you have installed the BrowseAloud plug-in you can get any part of this website read out to you by clicking on the page or by highlighting the text and clicking the play button (Internet Explorer only).

BrowseAloud works with most PDF files and MS Word documents.

Click here for more information about BrowseAloud .

Click here to download the BrowseAloud plug-in.
Can I link to the SCIE website from another website?Open

Yes. We are happy for other organisations to link to the SCIE website from their website. Below is some standard text you can use to describe SCIE:

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) was established by Government in 2001 to improve social care services for adults and children in the United Kingdom. We achieve this by identifying good practice and helping to embed it in everyday social care provision.

If you would like a copy of our logo to include, please contact the Communications Team (email: communicationsteam@scie.org.uk).
Can I publicise my organisation, resource or event on SCIE's website?Open

SCIE is frequently asked to publicise other people's work on our website. Unfortunately we are unable to do this as it would be impossible for us to accommodate all the requests we get.

However, if you have a social care related website, publication or event you would like to publicise, we might be able to include it on our Social Care Online website.

Please use the suggest a resource form on Social Care Online to suggest websites or resources.

You can add information about events yourself, simply by registering on Social Care Online.
Where can I find information about copyright and data protection?Open

Please see our Terms and conditions page for information on copyright and data protection.
How do I download files from the SCIE website?Open
Some documents on this site can be downloaded on to your computer. This allows you to view them again without re-visiting our website and to print them out.

Just click on the link and the document will open in a new browser window. Links to files will normally tell you the type of file and how big it is.

Nearly all downloadable files on this site are in PDF format - see below for more information. If you cannot download PDF files, or would like information in a different format, please contact our Publications team (email: publications@scie.org.uk).

Occasionally you may experience difficulty downloading a file. You can sometimes get round this by clicking on the link with the right (rather than left) mouse button and then selecting the 'Save target as..' option from the menu. You can also do this by selecting the link and then pressing the Context key (normally on the right hand side of the spacebar, to the left of the CTRL key).

If this does not work, please contact SCIE's Web Development Team (email: webteam@scie.org.uk).

What are PDFs and how do I read them?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It's the most popular way of making downloadable documents available on the web. You need a plug-in called Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files which you can download for free from Adobe's website.

Users who have concerns about accessibility should visit Adobe's accessibility website. Adobe Acrobat documents can be converted to plain text documents using Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents.

Recent version of Acrobat Reader have a 'Read Out Loud' facility, which can be found under the View menu.

We can also provide a 'tagged' version of any PDF, which may work better with access technology like screen readers.

How do I download and listen to audio video files?

The audio and video files on the SCIE website are in MP3 or Windows media player format. Many computers have a media player pre-installed but should you find that you are unable to play any of the files download and install one of the following free media players.
If you experience difficulty playing audio files you can download them by clicking on the link with the right (rather than left) mouse button and then selecting the 'Save target as..' option from the menu. You can also do this by selecting the link and then pressing the Context key (normally on the right hand side of the spacebar, to the left of the CTRL key).

Once the file is downloaded, you can play it by clicking on it.

How can I view a Word or other MS Office file if I don't have the software?

Free viewers for Microsoft Office files can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center. These include viewers for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

What is social bookmarking?Open

Social bookmarking sites allow you to store, tag and share links across the internet. Links can be tagged using keywords and then searched or shared with other users with similar interests. This forms a network of resources and links on a specific topic.

Because the material is evaluated and indexed by people who understand the meaning of the content any searching on these networks is likely to return more accurate results than search engines that just list websites based on terms and keywords.

Currently, we provide links to the following bookmarking sites: