The FSA is committed to making this web site easy to use and simple to navigate as well as conforming to the government's recommendations concerning disability accessibility.  Consequently our site has been designed to meet the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) recommendations.

How do I navigate around the FSA's site?

We have made the navigation as simple and as intuitive as possible.  If you require information that relates in general to the FSA then you should expect to find that information under 'About the FSA'

If you are a firm who has to be registered, have yourself or others within your firm 'approved', submit information at the required date or generally interact with the FSA in the normal course of your business then you will expect to find what you need under 'Doing business with the FSA'  

Information concerning Consumers, The FSA Handbook and details about firms held in our Register all have their own top level navigation buttons.

Whilst there are a few areas on fsa.gov.uk that are password protected and available only to registered firms the vast majority of the information on our site is available to both consumers and registered firms for transparency.

 

Top level navigation

The first channels of navigation are featured in the black band across the top of the page. Click on ‘About the FSA’, ‘Doing business with the FSA’ or ‘FSA library’ and you will see a secondary level of navigation on the left hand side. Many of these channels have subsequent navigation under them.

To keep the navigation clear and simple to use, only the navigation relating to the channel you are in will be displayed indicating which page you are on and how deep you are in the site. Links above your current page indicate shallower levels; you can use these to navigate back up through the site.  Links displayed below your current page are the pages available from where you are and take you deeper into the site.

An example of how a Small Firm would find relevant information

Select 'Doing Business with the FSA' from the top level navigation bar;

Select 'Small Firms' from the left hand navigation list;

Selecting this option offers you an area with generic content for small firms plus the following selection of specific areas: 

Simply select the area that describes your business.

 

Do I need any particular hardware or software from the FSA?

No.  The FSA is neutral towards technology and most major hardware and software platforms are compatible.

 

How can I save the link I always need in the Favourites folder?

Simply add the url of the area you visit most, for example the Small Firms' section, to your 'Favourites' folder.  To add a page to your list of 'Favourites' open the page that you want to add, select the Favourites menu (usually found on the top bar of your browser window) and click 'Add to Favourites' (you can type a new name for the page if you want to when prompted).

How do I select it the next time I need it?

Select the Favourite menu from the top level navigation bar on your PC.  With the Favourites menu open click the link you want to open.  As your list of favourite pages grows, you can organise them by moving them into subfolders – for more details see your 'help' facility from the top navigation bar on your browser.

What is a URL?

It is the address of a web site (its full name is Uniform Resource Locator) and typically is composed of four parts:

  • A protocol name (a protocol is a set of rules and standards that enable computers to exchange information)
  • The location of the site
  • The name of the organization that maintains the site
  • A suffix that identifies the kind of organization it is (such as .com for a commercial organization)

For example, the address http://www.fsa.gov.uk/ provides the following information:

 
Ref.http:// www fsa .gov.uk
This Web server uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This site is on the World Wide Web. The web server belongs to the Financial Services Authority. This is a government domain within the UK.

 

Is that the only way?

You can place a direct link in your 'Links' bar.  This bar, part of the top level tool bar on your browser, is located next to the Address bar (in Internet Explorer) and is a convenient place to add links to a few Web pages that you use frequently. Just click the link to display the page.

You can add a page to the Links bar in a variety of ways:

  • Drag the icon for the page from your Address bar to your Links bar.
  • Drag a link from a Web page to your Links bar.
  • Drag a link to the Links folder in your Favourites list.

If the Links bar does not appear on the toolbar, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Links.  You also can organize your links by dragging them to a different location on the Links bar.

Can I navigate by using the search facility?

Yes.  Type in your question or a key word (possibly the title of a document you are searching for) and press 'Return' on your keyboard – or click on 'Search'.  The search engine is powerful enough to accept close, but incorrect, spellings and will attempt to answer a free text question.

 

How do I search the Handbook?

The Handbook resides on its own servers and you must go to the search facility embedded within the Handbook.  Please follow the instructions that accompany the Handbook search facility.