Help with using the website
Help page for the UK SBS website. How to find information and site map facilities. Who to contact to ask questions.
Our help section covers:
Finding information
To help you find information on the site you can try our search and our site map.
Accessibility
Our intention is that this website should be usable and accessible to all users and conform to the Guidelines for UK government websites.
For more information on the steps we have taken to optimise accessibility, including how to use access keys and changing background colours, please see our
accessibility page.
Viewing files
The majority of content on this website is provided in the normal HTML webpage format viewable through any web browser software.
However, there is some content that is provided in non-HTML webpage format. This is so that we can provide the content in exactly the same style and appearance that is already offered through other channels.
Non-HTML webpage formats used on this site include:
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Adobe Acrobat PDF format
PDF files can be read using Adobe Reader software, which is available for many different computer systems including Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Palm. Visit the Adobe website to obtain the
Adobe Reader.
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Microsoft Word and Excel formats
Microsoft documents and spreadsheets can still be read even if you have not bought the commercial Word and Excel programs. Microsoft offer a range of free 'viewer' programs for download; however, these programs are only available for Windows systems. Visit the Microsoft website to obtain the
Word and Excel viewers.
Antiword is a free, open-source program that allows Microsoft Word documents to be opened and read on Linux and Mac OS X systems, among others. You can
download Antiword from the developer's site.
Please note, we can make no guarantees or assurances about the quality or security of any software obtained from third party sites. We do not endorse or support any third party product or software.
Downloading and saving files
Most files will automatically download to your computer if you click on the link to that file. Depending on your browser settings, you may be asked where you would like to save the document, or it may open automatically within the current browser window.
If you would prefer to take greater control over the downloading and saving of a document, then you can also right-click (in Windows) or control-click (on a Macintosh) on the link to the document and select the option entitled 'Save Target As', 'Save Link As' or 'Save Linked File As' (depending on your type of browser). The normal save dialog box will appear and you can choose where to store the document on your local computer.
Help with problems accessing pages
Our website has been built to allow compatibility with all types of browser on any computer operating system. Although the appearance of the website will vary according to the capabilities of your system, the site itself should still work. If the site does not function properly for you, please contact the
Webteam giving the details of the issue encountered and include your browser/operating system version so that we can investigate.
If you click on a link anywhere on the site and get an error message saying that the page you were looking for cannot be found, please contact the Webteam to let us know where the original link was so that we can investigate the problem and fix it.
If a page persistently fails to load in your browser, it is possible that a corrupt local version of the page has been temporarily stored by your browser. You can clear this out by refreshing the page: hold down the control (or command on a Macintosh) and shift keys at the same time as clicking on the browser's refresh icon. (The refresh icon is usually shown as an egg timer or one or two arrows going around in a circle.)
There may be occasions when the internet itself is congested and is particularly slow displaying pages. This is outside the control of UK SBS, but should be an infrequent occurrence.
