We want our website to be useful and easy to use. Because of the large amount of information and services we offer we have provided this guide to help you find what you need quickly and effectively.
Please use the links below to go to each section of this page. If you need more advice please email webmaster@derby.gov.uk. Please note that the Webmaster mailbox is designed to receive messages relating only to our website. Any unsolicited messages, requests to other departments or services, or marketing may be ignored.
Finding What You Want
Link Formats
Navigation Structure
Documents and Resources for Download
Keyboard Shortcuts
Access Keys
Text Sizing
Speech Enabling
Your Thoughts
Finding What You Want
There are several ways to find information:
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Extensive site navigation links at the left-hand side
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A comprehensive A-Z of Council Services link, on every page (on the left-hand side, in 'Features')
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A search facility on every page (top right) which lists all results for the keyword(s) you have typed. There is also an advanced help facility included in the search results page so you can refine the search.
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The home page also has links to the most recently updated pages, latest news and information, and links to online services.
Link Formats
All hyperlinks are underlined and change to red when the link is hovered over.
Navigation Structure
Our site navigation is based on a government standard called the Local Government Category List - or LGCL. The LGCL is designed to provide human centered navigation, in other words, it aims to provide links based on issues not council departments.
Each category is shown in green and when expanded shows the relevant pages belonging to the category, plus any sub-categories which may belong to the main category.
You can always go back a category by using the 'Up a level' link, or by using the breadcrumb trail links that display after the words "You are here:". The breadcrumb trail is also a quick way of seeing where you are in the site.
Documents and Resources for Download
Some information - such as reports and forms - are made available for downloading in other formats. Most of these are in PDF - Portable Document Format. Sometimes we may need to provide a document in a proprietary format, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. We will always try to notify visitors about the type of file it is and its file size.
If you do not have the software to view these documents, you can download it for free by using these links:
Acrobat Reader download page
Microsoft Word Viewer download page
Microsoft Excel Viewer download page
Sometimes we may provide information in another format which might need you to download an application onto your computer to use - for example webcasts, 360 degree images, or slideshows. If so we will always try to make sure that:
- The download link is made available
- The resource does not restrict certain people from using it - for example, keyboard shortcuts can be used to operate it
- It does not provide core information about a service - such as opening times or contact details
- If the information can be put into text, a text version is made available elsewhere on the website.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts control various browser functions and are often a useful and quick way of navigating through a site.
For the vast majority of browsers, use your Tab key to navigate forward through links (use Shift + Tab to go backwards), and Enter to activate the link.
Many other keys can be used, and will vary depending on the browser and operating system you are using. If your computer's operating system is Microsoft Windows and you are using either Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, follow these steps to find out about keyboard shortcuts:
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Internet Explorer - Press your F1 key to open the online help and in the index, type "keyboard shortcuts", select the required option and click "display".
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Netscape Navigator - Press your F1 key to open the online help and in the index, type "Keyboard".
Access Keys
Access keys were designed to help people with difficulties using a mouse to get to the main pages of a website by using the keyboard instead. Like keyboard shortcuts, they are a quick and easy way for everyone navigate around a site. Access keys are supported by most browsers, but are not available on every site because they depend upon being 'coded' into the design of the website.
The following access keys are used on this site - which follow the Government standard:
S - Skip navigation
1 - Home page
2 - What's New
4 - Search
5 - Frequently Asked Questions
6 - Help
7 - Complaints procedure
8 - Terms and conditions
9 - Feedback form
0 - Access key details
To use access keys do the following:
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Windows - Press your Alt key and the access key together to select the link, then press Enter or Return.
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Macintosh - Press your Ctrl key and the access key together to select the link, then press Enter or Return.
Text Sizing
If necessary, text can be made larger by doing the following:
Speech Enabling
This web site now speech enabled for anyone who finds reading text difficult. You can download software - called Browsealoud - onto your computer, which will allow you to hear the text on our site being spoken. This software is free to use and needs no registration. Once you have downloaded it you simply go to any site that is speech enabled with Browsealoud and use your mouse or keyboard to select the text you want to be read. Browsealoud is used on many other government websites and large commercial websites such as the BBC website.
Browsealoud reads the text one sentence at a time and you can set the type of voice, it's pitch, speed and volume to your own preferences.
To download Browsealoud please use the following link which takes you to their website: Browsealoud.
Your Thoughts
It is important that we know how useful you think this website is. If you think things could be improved please let us know, by completing our Website Feedback Form below.
All the questions are optional and we do not ask for any contact information unless you want us to reply to you. Please note that this is not a general comment or complaints form for a particular service. If you want to make a complaint or comment, please visit Contact Us.