HERE at the CCG, we are always looking for ways we can improve how we interact and engage with the public.

For some time, we have wanted to make it easier for people with a disability, or those whose first language isn’t English, to access the information we have on our website.

The website holds all sorts of useful information about GP practices, the Bolton plan for health and social care, the latest news and decisions we make, and how we spend your money!

So, you see it’s important that we maintain our ethos of transparency and inclusion and I’m proud to say that we have a new function on the website that will enable more people than ever to keep up to date with what we’re doing.

We’ve recently added Browsealoud, which is an innovative tool that helps people who may struggle to access and understand information online.

In the UK, more than 12 million people have print disabilities such as dyslexia, low literacy and mild visual impairment.

In addition, more than eight million speak English as a second language.

This can be a barrier to accessing services but Browsealoud offers speech, reading and translation support that is free of charge and easy to use.

From the homepage, visitors can access a range of functions, such as the translation of text into 99 languages; they can hear the text read aloud in English or 40 commonly spoken languages, distractions can be removed or blocked enabling the user to focus on the most important messages, and translations can be converted into an audio file that can be listened to offline.

Browsealoud will help us to reach a much wider audience ­— why not give it a try?