General content questions

The Guided Tour will give you a good introduction to how this site works, so you may want to watch this before referring to this list of questions.

What is LPC Skills Online?

LPC Skills Online is an online resource which helps LPC students practise and develop the skills assessed on the Legal Practice Course. Covering legal writing and drafting; interviewing and advising; advocacy; and practical legal research the innovative web site provides an ideal environment for interactive learning. A short accompanying text outlines the principles behind the skills and gives practical examples to bear in mind when completing the online exercises.

The resource is not intended to replace teaching, but is instead designed to complement classroom sessions and any materials that the lecturer may provide themselves.

What is available online?

The website is divided into four skill areas, covering legal writing and drafting, interviewing and advising, advocacy, and practical legal research. You can access the skill areas in any order, or simultaneously. In addition, there is a case study area which enables you to put all of the skills together in a realistic scenario, as required in practice. Within these five skill areas, there are around 60 interactive exercises. The exercises are varied: some involving video and audio material, others require you to create documents such as letters to clients or to answer multiple choice questions.

The web site also features a 'Reflective Diary' which enables you to reflect on your learning. This is in the format of a Word document which features appropriate headings. You can amend and save this document as you like, so that it can be included in any form of Reflective Diary in use at your institution.

What is the relationship between the book and the website?

LPC Skills Online is an online resource with an accompanying book. The book contains information on the principles that you might want to bear in mind when completing the online exercises.

The book plays a larger role in the exercises on Practical Legal Research. Here, research problems are set out in the book and you should complete your research on these problems before attempting the online exercises. The online exercises will help you assess the effectiveness of your research.

How do I submit a comment or correction?

You may use the Contact us form to submit your comments. When providing a comment about a specific entry, please provide as much detail as possible and include the URL of the page being referred to by copying and pasting the URL from your browser's address box into your message. Comments will be reviewed by our editorial staff.

What is the Reflective Diary function?

You can use the 'Reflective Diary' to reflect on your learning. The diary is in the format of a Word document which features appropriate headings. You can amend and save this document as you like, so that it can be included in any form of Reflective Diary in use at your institution. Please note that you cannot upload or save the file within the website.

For more information on this product, see About this site.

Accessing LPC Skills Online

How do I access the website?

You access the website via a unique code which is contained in an access token at the back of the book. You cannot access the website without buying the book.

When you have a copy of the book and the access token, you go to the Token Activation Page where you create your account. Once you have created it you can login to the website.

Do I need to remember my access code?

You only need your access code once: the first time you login you will be required to submit your access code. As a part of the registration process, you will be asked to choose a username and password. After that, you will just need your username and password.

Once I have redeemed my access code, how long does my subscription last for?

Once you have entered your access code and created an account, you will have access to this site for two years or until 1 September 2013; whichever is earlier. After two years, your account will expire and you will not be able to enter the site.

What is my username?

Your username will be created when you register to the site, and will be the email address you used when you redeemed your access code.

Can I pass my access code to another user?

No. Your access code will work only once to create your account. After that, it will not work and cannot be used to create further accounts.

How do I change my username?

You can change your username by contacting our Customer Services department, using the Contact us form.

How do I change my password?

You can change your password by clicking on the 'My Account' link which appears on every page. You will then be asked to enter your new password which has to contain at least four characters (only digits and letters). Once you have clicked 'set password' your password will be updated and you should use your new password to login the next time you enter the site.

I've forgotten my password. How do I login?

Click on the Forgotten your password? link on the homepage. You will be prompted to enter your email address and your password will be resent to your email account.

Can I access the site via Athens?

No. This site is not accessible through Athens as it does not rely on an institutional subscription.

Can an institution buy a multi-user subscription?

If an institution wishes to provide access to all students, it must buy the relevant number of books in order to provide each student with a unique access code.

Do I always have to access my account from the same computer or on a computer within the university network?

No. You can access the site using your username and password from any computer in any location.

I registered and now can't access my account. Why not?

1. Check that you are typing your email and password correctly. Remember they are case sensitive. Make sure there are no spaces before the letters you key in.
2. Try clearing your website cache.
3. It may be that your subscription period of two years has now expired.
4. The only other reason your account would be disabled would be due to abuse detection. If none of these applies, then use the Contact us form.

Completing the exercises

I've logged in. How do I start the exercises?

Simply click on the skill area that you would like to develop. You will then be introduced to this topic by a film from the author and an interview with a practitioner, who will explain how this skill might be used in a training contract or in the first few years of practice. (You can skip these introductions if you prefer.) You'll then be able to start on the exercises within that skill area.

Do I have to complete the exercises in order?

No, although it may help you to do so, as the exercises build up your knowledge as they proceed. Exercises can be selected from the navigation panel on the left side of the page.

What are the supplementary exercises?

For particular topics within each skill, the authors have provided supplementary exercises to ensure that you develop an awareness of key issues before moving on. You will be automatically directed to these supplementary exercises if you score less than 50% in the preceding 'main' exercise. If you score over 50% you will be offered the opportunity to undertake these exercises. Supplementary exercises are easy to identify in the contents list on the left of the web page: they are followed with an 'a' (for example, Exercise 1a).

Can I skip any exercises?

Yes, you can select which exercises to complete, in accordance with the demands of your course.

Why are some answers 'partially correct'?

Sometimes, it isn't wrong to do things in a particular way - it's just better to do them a different way. These subtleties become apparent through experience, and are an important part of learning how to apply your skills in a practical environment. To reflect this, the authors have included some partially correct answers into some exercises. If you choose a partially correct answer, you'll receive one mark; a correct answer will receive two marks.

What do the symbols in the exercises mean?

A green tick means that you have got an answer correct; a red cross indicates that you've made an incorrect choice. Some exercises feature partially correct answers.

Do I have to complete the whole exercise in one go?

No. You can save any answers you have entered by clicking on the 'save' button at the foot of your screen. Next time you login you will be able to resume this exercise at the point at which you left it.

How do I know which exercises I have completed?

Your score will be indicated next to the exercise in the panel on the left hand side of the screen. Alternatively, you can look at the 'My Scores' page which will show the score for all exercises completed across all skill areas.

I've started to complete the exercises in one topic. Can I begin the exercises in a different topic at the same time?

Yes. You can go back to where you left off in any particular skill area by clicking on the 'underway' bar on the homepage, or if you are already within an exercise area, by using the navigation bar on the left hand side of the screen.

I logged out after completing only some of the exercises in a topic. Does this mean I have to start the topic again?

No, you can go back to where you left off in any particular skill area by clicking on the 'underway' bar on the homepage.

Can I re-take an exercise once I have completed it?

Yes, you can re-take an exercise as many times as you want. Simply press the 'Clear all' button to remove your previous answers.

Do I have to complete the topics in order?

No. You can choose to start any topic at any time. If you wish to start the exercises in a new topic simply return to the home page by clicking 'home' and then click on the name of the topic you would like to begin.

How do I know which topics I have started?

The homepage will show you the status of each of your skill areas. This may say 'Not yet started', 'underway', or 'completed'.

Will my answers be lost if my computer crashes or if I log off halfway through an activity?

It depends. If you have clicked on 'Save' or 'Submit' during an activity then your answers will be saved and you will be able to see them the next time you login. If you haven't clicked on 'Save' or 'Submit' then your work will be lost.

Can I see a summary of my results for the exercises I have completed?

Yes. You can click on 'My Scores', featured on the top right hand side of your screen, at any time to see your results for each of the exercises you have completed.

How can I share my results with my lecturer?

You can either print out the relevant screen to show your lecturer or you can email her/him with your test scores. In order to do this, simply go to the 'My Scores' page and click on 'Email to Lecturer' button and fill in the form provided. Your results will be attached to the email automatically. Alternatively you can click on the 'export' feature. This will then create an .xls file which you can email to your lecturer from your own mailbox.

Can I print my answers?

Yes. If you want to keep a record of your answers or to print out important information for your file, you can use the print function within your browser.

I have to scroll to see all of the exercise. How do I see more of it?

Check whether you have maximized the browser window. In other words, does it fill your screen? If not, click the maximize button in the top right of the window. Check whether your display is at the recommended resolution for this website. The recommended resolution is 1024 x 768 pixels.

Can I change the size of the web browser window?

Yes. You can do this by maximising or amending the size of the window. You also need to reload the page once you change the size of the web browser so that the exercise can adjust to the new dimensions. If you are in the middle of doing an exercise remember to click Save before you reload the page.

Can I change the size of the font?

Yes, you can resize the text to a comfortable reading size by clicking AAA symbols displayed on the right hand side of the website, depending on which font size is most suitable for you.

Technical questions

What are the technical requirements for using this website?

In order to access the website, you need a standard web browser such as Internet Explorer 6.0, Mozilla Firefox 3.0, Safari 3.0 with an internet connection, HTML and JavaScript support as well as Flash Player 9 plug-in. The website performs a software check to find out whether your web browsers support JavaScript and Flash player.

Your operating system should be one of the following: Win 2000 SP3; Win XP SP2; Win Vista; MAC OS X 10.X.

You will also need MS Office and Adobe Reader installed on your computer to be able to open Word documents and PDFs files attached to the exercises.

The LPC Skills is best viewed with a screen resolution of 1024x768, although it will also work at higher and lower resolutions.

If you are having problems accessing the website, here are some general questions to ask yourself:

Are you connected to the internet when you try to use the site?
Try going to another website. If you can't, your internet service may be experiencing problems.
Are you typing your email and password correctly?

Are you using a recommended browser: Internet Explorer 6 or later, or Firefox 3?

If not, try going to the website using one of the recommended browsers.

Have you cleared your cache recently?
Your browser cache is a temporary storage area that holds web pages that you have looked at. Getting information from the cache is usually quicker than getting it from the internet. Such decisions are made in the background and you usually do not need to be involved.
However, this can mean that you do not get the most recent version of a web page. If you are finding that the website is behaving strangely, you might find that the problem is fixed by clearing (or emptying) your cache.

To clear your cache under Firefox:
1. Log out of LPC Skills Online and close all other open browser windows.
2. On the Tools menu select Options.
3. Click the Privacy icon and then the Clear Now button.
4. Click the Clear Private Data Now button.
5. Click OK.

To clear your cache under Internet Explorer 6:
1. Log out of LPC Skills Online and close all other open browser windows.
2. On the Tools menu select Internet Options.
3. Under the Temporary Internet Files heading, click the Delete Files button.
4. Click OK on the Warning box.
5. Click OK again.

To clear your cache under Internet Explorer 7:
1. Log out of LPC Skills Online and close all other open browser windows.
2. On the Tools menu select Delete Browsing History.
3. Click the Delete Files button.

Are you using a firewall?
If you do use a firewall, add http://www.oxfordinteract.com/lpcskills to your trusted sites, also known as your whitelist. If that does not work, deactivate the firewall and then try accessing oxfordinteract.com/lpcskills again. If deactivating the firewall does work, remember to activate it again when you have finished using the website. Are you behind a proxy server?

If you are, it may be blocking your access to http://www.oxfordinteract.com/lpcskills. Contact your system administrator and ask them to allow you access to the website. Do you use security software?

What accessibility standards does the site meet?

The following requirements have been implemented within the website to ensure compliance with Priority Levels 1 and 2 of the W3C accessibility guidelines:
Fonts can be resized on the screen
Assets have been tagged for assistive technology
Colour does not convey any critical meaning
Content and structure are separated from presentation
Foreground has been differentiated from background for both audio and visual presentation
A logical reading order has been set
Content does not use any flashing text or graphics, or looped animations
Text has been formatted correctly (avoiding full justification)
Buttons are of sufficient size

Do I need JavaScript?

Yes. If you need to enable JavaScript, please bear in mind that the way to do this will be different for each browser. For Internet Explorer 6 please follow the instructions below:

You can tell IE6 to enable pop-ups and JavaScript only for trusted websites. You first need to specify that www.oxfordinteract.com/lpcskills is a trusted site, and then enable pop-ups and JavaScript.

1. On the Tools menu select Internet Options.
2. Click the Security tab on the Internet Options dialog box.
3. Click the Trusted sites icon.
4. Click the Sites button.
5. Under Add this web site to the zone: type www.oxfordinteract.com/lpcskills (you might want to copy and paste the URL to prevent typos).
6. Click the Add button.
7. Make sure that the check box next to Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone is not checked.
8. Click OK.
Now enable JavaScript:
9. Click the Custom Level button.
10. Scroll down to the options under Use Pop-up Blocker.
(It is quite a long way down).
11. Click the Enable radio button.
12. Then scroll down to the options under Scripting.
13. Under Active scripting click the Enable radio button.

Do I need Flash Player?

Yes. You need Flash Player 9 or above as a plug-in in a web browser in order to take the exercises and watch audio and video content. If you do not have Flash Player installed, please download it from the Abobe website.

What are cookies and why do I need them?

Cookies are small files that we create to store information on your computer.
We do not use cookies to track what other sites you have visited.
We do not look at or track any personal or confidential information about you.
We do make use of cookies to enable authorization control for online subscriptions.
We delete all our cookies when you click 'Log Out' or quit your browser.
Please note: you must have cookies enabled to access LPC Skills Online.

How do I enable cookies?

To enable cookies, follow the instructions below for the browser version you are using.

Mozilla Firefox (1.0 final release and earlier)
Go to the "Tools" menu.
Select "Options".
Select the "Privacy" icon in the left panel.
Check the box corresponding to "Allow sites to set cookies".
Click "OK" to save changes.

Netscape 7.1/Mozilla 5.0
Select "Preferences" from the Edit menu.
Click on the arrow next to "Privacy & Security" in the scrolling window to expand.
Under "Privacy & Security", select "Cookies."
Select "Enable all cookies".
Click "OK".

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+
Select "Internet Options" from the Tools menu.
Click on the "Privacy" tab.
Click the "Default" button (or manually slide the bar down to "Medium") under "Settings".
Click "OK".

Is there a search function?

You can find your way around the site by using the left-hand navigation to browse through the various topics. You can also use the Can my additional Flash related plug-ins affect the way the exercises work?

Yes. That is why we recommend that you switch your additional Flash-related plug-ins off in your web browser if you experience any problems with using the website.

Watching the video files

Some exercises contain video files. They are downloaded progressively. If your internet connection is slow or overloaded we recommend that you wait until the file is fully downloaded before you play it.

Do I need a plug in to watch the video files?

Yes. You need to have Adobe Flash Player 9 or above in order to watch the video files. If you do not already have this, the go to www.adobe.com and look for the button that says 'Get Adobe Flash Player'. Click on the button to download the programme and follow the instructions to install it.

Why can't I hear any sound on the video clips?

First check that the volume isn't muted in your operating system. If you have separate audio speakers, check that they are switched on.

Listening to the audio files

Do I need a plug in to watch the animated demonstrations?

Yes. You need to have Adobe Flash Player 9 or above in order to watch the animated demonstrations. If you do not already have this, the go to www.adobe.com and look for the button that says 'Get Adobe Flash Player'. Click on the button to download the programme and follow the instructions to install it.

Why can't I hear any sound on the audio files?

First check that the volume isn't muted in your operating system. If you have separate audio speakers, check that they are switched on.