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Accessing the Local Offer

Here in Sunderland, we have developed our Local Offer with colleagues from education, social care, health, the private and voluntary sector, parents and carers as well as young people.

We are still keen to gather as many thoughts, suggestions and opinions as possible, so if you have anything that you would be willing to share with us, please Contact Us. 

Why is the information not in a printed format?

It is not possible to print out the information contained within the Local Offer because of the sheer volume of information that is included and not all of the information is relevant to all people.

Another reason is because services, both locally and nationally, are subject to constant change which means their information such as what they offer, their contact details or their venue could change which would make a printed document become out of date very quickly.  

Additional support

We are aware that not everyone has a computer or access to the internet and therefore some people who would benefit from information, advice or guidance contained within this Local Offer may find it difficult to access it.

Professionals working with families and young people should know how to help them find information on the Local Offer website.

What if someone doesn’t have a computer or access to the internet and does not have a professional to help: 

  • You can use a computer in one of our Customer Service Centres 
  • Most libraries have public access computers that you could use 
  • Some children’s centres also have computers or internet access 

The Customer Service Centre could help you find information from the site, print it out and send it out to you in the post

If you, or you know someone who still would not be able to use the site despite all of the suggestions above, please ask them to contact our Customer Service Network on 0191 520 5553.

Specific access requirements

The site includes a number of accessibility tools to help people with additional access requirements: 

  • Accessibility – allows a user to change the text size; contrast or colour scheme if they have difficulty using the site in its current format 
  • Recite Me – software that has text to speech functionality, a dyslexia software, an interactive dictionary and a translation tool with up to 90 languages
  • Point – an online tool that uses Widgit symbols to help visitors to the site understand the written content better 
  • Google Translate – a tool that allows the user to translate the whole content of the site into a language of their choice

Promoting the Local Offer

We are currently in the process of producing some information posters, leaflets and other materials to let people know what the Local Offer is, how they can use it and to signpost them to where they can get additional help.

If you have any ideas about the sort of information that you would find useful on one of the leaflets etc., or if you have any other query, please let us know by either using the on-line Contact Us form or telephoning the Contact Centre on 0191 520 5553. 

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