Terms & Disclaimer

When you use these websites you are agreeing to accept these terms and conditions, and any additional terms on individual pages within the sites.

We may change this information without notice, so you should revisit this page and any other relevant pages from time to time.

Copyright and use of content
All content is available under the Open Government Licence except where otherwise stated.

External links
The site includes links to other ‘external’ websites. We do not control or endorse these websites and are not responsible for their content.

Disclaimer and limitation of liability
We have taken all reasonable care to compile information and material on this website. But we are not responsible for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused by any inaccuracy or error.

Manchester Safeguarding Partnership (MSP), our partners and any third-parties mentioned on the site are not liable for any damages arising from the use of, or inability to use, this site, or any websites linked to this site.

Your feedback and comments
We welcome your feedback and comments about this site.

If you think there are any mistakes or out-of-date information on the site, please contact us to tell us which page or pages you think need changing.

We consider this sort of feedback, or anything you post on this site, or send us through this site, as non-confidential. We can use this material in any way.

Do not post or send any unlawful, threatening, libellous, defamatory, obscene, or pornographic material to or from this site.

We can monitor or review any areas of the site where users send or post communications, feedback, or comments. But we have no liability for this material.

Surveys
From time to time we carry out online surveys to collect information that will help us improve our services. These surveys are optional. We may share non-personal, statistical information from these surveys with third parties.

We are always working to make our website accessible. However, if you find anything difficult to use the information on this page will help you.

Assistive technology
We encourage our users to customise their own computer with assistive technologies to suit their individual needs. For example you may like to change the colour scheme or have the site content spoken to you. If you are not sure how to do this we recommend you visit BBC My Web, My Way www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility

Limitations
We try to ensure our site content is accessible, however, you may find some limitations.

We always aim to communicate simply and clearly. Unfortunately, this is not always possible as our website has many different authors covering many different subjects.

If you find anything on our website difficult to use please please contact us.

Document formats we use
Where we link to external files, we try and make sure the format is widely recognised. It is not our intention to deliberately link to files where you need to purchase special software to view the contents.

The links below are provided to help you view our documents and, where required, to download free software that allows you to open these files.

PDF documents
The term PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and has become a common internet file format.

PDFs are commonly used to distribute the electronic version of a document as the PDF document looks exactly the same as the original document and the file size is smaller.

Opening PDF files
To open a PDF file you have two options:

• Open the PDF with Adobe Reader (the common option). You can download Adobe Reader from the Adobe website.
• Use an online PDF conversion tool. This tool will convert most PDF files into a more accessible format. You can convert a PDF file into a more accessible format on the Adobe website.

PDF files and browsers
You can configure your web browser to open PDF files either within the browser window or in a separate Adobe Acrobat window. You can read about viewing PDF files in a browser on the Adobe website.

Are PDF files accessible?
PDF file formats are becoming more accessible through technologies like screen readers, navigation through the keyboard, and enhanced screen viewing.

For further information on Adobe Acrobat Reader and accessibility visit the Adobe Accessibility Resource Centre.

Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader is by far the most popular PDF viewer but there are several other viewers available for download that will allow you to view and print PDF documents on a variety of computers and systems, including PDF Zone and Planet PDF.

Microsoft Word documents
View, print and copy Word documents, even if you don’t have Word installed. A free Word viewer can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

Microsoft Excel documents
Open, view, and print Excel workbooks, even if you don’t have Excel installed. A free Excel viewer can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

Microsoft PowerPoint documents
Open, view, and print PowerPoint workbooks, even if you don’t have PowerPoint installed. A free PowerPoint viewer can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

Adobe Flash files
We use a multimedia format called Flash for interactive sections of the website. Flash is widely used on the internet and to view Flash files a piece of software called a Flash Player is required. You can download Flash Player free of charge from the Adobe website.

Windows Media Player files
Our preference for video clips is to use the Flash file format. However, where this is not possible we will use the Microsoft Windows Media format for videos. You can download Windows Media Player free of charge from the Microsoft website.

Most of the programs listed above have specific accessibility controls built in so you can change the text size and generally ensure the document is suitable for your individual requirements.

If you find a document on this website that you cannot open please email us and we will try, where possible, to convert it into a different format for you.

Images and multimedia
We try to use text rather than images whenever possible on our website to give you more control over text resizing and to reduce the download time of pages so that they display more quickly. However, images often form an essential component of the website to graphically describe a subject or location.

Alternative text and long descriptions on images
Where images are used we add alternative text and a long description so that if you are blind, have low vision, or have chosen not to view images, you know what the image on the page is.

Due to technical limitations it is sometimes difficult to provide alternative descriptions, or formats, on some images. For example, if we are using a Google map to show a location it is hard to provide alternative. Where this happens we will do everything reasonably possible to give you an alternative option.

Help resizing the text on this website
You can change the size of the text on our website using the ‘decrease text size’ or ‘increase text size’ buttons on every page.

If you click on the ‘increase text size’ button you will find the text size increases incrementally until it reaches a very large size. If you want to return the text to its original size, simply click on the ‘reset’ button.

The use of Plain English
Plain English is ‘writing that the intended audience can read, understand and act upon the first time they read it’. If something can be said briefly, it should be. Plain English is faster to write, easier to read and more easily understood.

Plain English is not being patronising or over-simple. It means being efficient, direct and friendly and reducing the risk of being misunderstood.

It is important to us that all of our communications are easy to understand, concise and avoid unnecessary technical terms and jargon.

For more information visit the Plain English Campaign website. The site contains many helpful tips about how to use plain English.

Easy Read
In some sections of the site we have included and easy read version of the information. For more information about easy read see the Easy Read website.

Help us to help you
Our overall aim is to ensure that every single person is able to access the information and services it contains. This is regardless of disability, impairment, ability or the computer being used and includes visual, auditory, motor, cognitive (thought) and seizure impairments.

However, there may be times when we fall short of the high standards you expect. When this happens it will not be intentional and we are committed to trying to resolve any problems as soon as possible.

If you have a comment, problem or suggestion regarding this website please please contact us. We want to work with you to try and make the website as inclusive as possible.