Textphone System - The number is 0845 034 2113

Our new online text telephone system connects hard of hearing, deaf or speech impaired customers who use textphones (also known as minicoms), to almost anyone in our organisation. As with a voice telephone system, our new system offers the textphone user direct one to one private communication with members of the GROW and ECBL teams.

Customers can now access our service using a traditional textphone which has a keyboard and a display screen, just use your textphone to call us on 0845 034 2113.

Alternatively we are very pleased to announce that our textphone communication system is also available online, meaning hard of hearing, deaf or speech impaired customers who do not have a physical textphone can now also communicate with us in exactly the same way. Access to the system will always be available via our Contact us page.

Find out more about how to use our Textphone system here.

Access our online Textphone system direct here.

Translations

We make every effort to ensure that website users who do not read English can access the information available on this Website.

We offer the Google Translation service on this website:

Audible

To allow you to hear the pages on this Web site read aloud, we recommend you use WebAnywhere. WebAnywhere is a Web-based screen reader. It requires no special software to be installed on your computer.

For quick access to WebAnywhere follow this link or type wa.cs.washington.edu into your browser.

The system works best when a recent version of Adobe Flash is installed but will also work well wit embedded media players like Windows Media Player and Quicktime.

Next, paste the URL of the Web page you want to have read out loud, eg http://www.developecs.org.uk, into the box near the top of the page next to the word "Location", and then press the button next to the box marked "go".

My Computer My Way - a service fom Ability Net

'Do you need help in making your computer easier to use? Let's look at the many ways you can make your keyboard and mouse, Windows, the internet and your favourite applications suit you and your needs...' These links take you to information on the Ability Net site.

BrowseAloud

BrowseAloud reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online. Reading large amounts of text on screen can be difficult for those with literacy and visual impairments.

BrowseAloud makes using the Internet easier for people who have:

• Low literacy and reading skills
• English as a second language
• Dyslexia
• Mild visual impairments

Click here to find out more about BrowseAloud.

Alternatively, most computers have built-in Text-To-Speech (TTS) facilities.

For Windows XP and Vista users, double-clicking on the Speech icon (classic view) in Control Panel allows text to speech to be configured.

Windows also comes with Narrator, which is designed to work with Internet Explorer, Notepad, WordPad, Control Panel programs, the Windows desktop, and Windows Setup. It's available from All Programs/Accessories/Accessibility.

With a Mac, is set up by opening System Preferences and selecting Speech. Check the button for "Speak selected text when the key is pressed", and then press "Set Key" to add your shortcut (eg Control + Option + K). Vicki (or whichever voice is preferred) is now ready to read any page in your browser.

Downloadable documents

Adobe Acrobat is required to view and print PDF documents that appear on this Web site. To download or upgrade this program for free, visit the Adobe Web site or click here. To read PDF documents with a screen reader please link to the Access Adobe Web site which provides useful tools and resources.

Tools are available on the Adobe website to help users access the contents of PDF documents.