DirectgovKids

DirectgovKids

Help and technical support

Minimum system requirements

Browsers and plugins

Internet Explorer 5.5, or Firefox 1.x or Safari 1.x or later or equivalent.

Adobe® Flash® Player 8 or later. (Download Adobe Flash [opens new window])

PCs

Intel® Pentium® 800MHz or processor or faster or equivalent.

256MB RAM

Macs

PowerPC G3 800Mz or faster

Intel Core™ Duo 1.83GHz or faster

256MB RAM

Other

Modern processor (800MHz or faster)

512MB RAM

128MB Graphics Memory

If you are having problems viewing the site, please phone us on 020 7131 7153 or email adam.frost@directgovkids.co.uk.

If you cannot see the spinning world, it may be because you do not have Flash installed. Flash is a free application which is quick and easy to install, taking around two minutes to download on a 56K modem. You can download Flash from the Adobe site here: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash [opens new window]

If you do not like or cannot use Flash, or have a problem accessing any of our resources, we have an HTML equivalent of the site, accessible from the home page. You can reach it directly here: http://kids.direct.gov.uk/resource_areas/html/home.htm [opens new window]

We have made every effort to make DirectgovKids accessible and easy to use for everyone, no matter what browser you choose to use, and whether or not you have any disabilities. You can read our full accessibility statement here: http://kids.direct.gov.uk/resource_areas/html/accessibility.html

Most of the site is navigated by clicking on buildings and people to access slideshows, animations and activities. Buttons such as ‘Play’, ‘Back’ and ‘Next’ indicate clearly how to access, progress or exit activities.

In addition to the site content, there is a range of supporting material, accessed from the site frame.

  • Buster the dog sits in the bottom left and offers context-sensitive help.
  • The ABC icon is on the bottom left and links to the Meaning Machine. This offers a glossary of difficult words.
  • The shortcuts button is on the bottom left and provides quick routes to buildings and games.
  • The teachers’ area button is on the top right and links to a range of lesson plans, factfiles and transcripts.
  • The parents’ area button is on the top right and links to downloadable activity sheets and other free resources.
  • Click on the key in the top right for the accessibility area. This contains advice on how to alter text size and colour and how to control captions and audio.
  • The Your Views button on the top right allows you to tell us what you think of the site.

The site has been created by the DCSF and Directgov.