Help using our site

We want our website to be useful and easy for you 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.

Use the contents links to go to each section of this page. If you need more advice please email the webmaster at: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.

Contents

Finding What You Want

There are several ways to find information...

  • Our extensive "mega menu" which also gives quick access to news, events and popular category related information (top centre, throughout the website)
  • A comprehensive A-Z of Council Services link (bottom centre, throughout the website)
  • A search facility on every page (top right) which lists all results for the keyword(s) you have typed. This also includes documents in the search results.
  • The home page displays latest news, events and promotable links for quick access to the latest and popular information on the website.

Navigation Structure

Our site navigation is based on a government standard called Local Government Navigation List - or LGNL. The LGNL structure is designed specifically for user needs rather than the council's department structure and the services they offer.

The LGNL structure is of a 'polymorphism' type which means you are not restricted to only accessing pages of a category you have accessed and accessing it by one route. This is done by showing other related section links that relate to your currently viewed page information.

Each category has its own colour theme helping you to know which category you are on. We use a breadcrumb trail to help you know where you are, the path taken to view a page and allows quick access to backtracking your progress to a page.

We use popular links and related news and events links for each category, giving you quick access to important and category related information.   

Documents and resources for download

Documents that are used on pages are available for download in portable document (PDF) or Microsoft Word or Excel format. You can find out the file type and size by hovering over the file link. We always try to keep the file size under 5MB, but it can ocassionally be larger.

If you do not have the software to view these documents, you can download it for free by using these links:

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.

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, follow these steps to find out about keyboard shortcuts:

  • 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".

Text Sizing

If necessary, text can be made larger by doing the following in Internet Explorer...

  • Internet Explorer - View Menu > Text Size

Other popular browsers also offer this type of functionality

Speech Enabling

This web site now speech enabled for anyone who finds reading text difficult. You can download software onto your computer, which will allow you to hear the text on our site being spoken. Browsealoud 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 using our website feedback feature.

On this page: