accessibility

How to change your browser settings.

By default, all text on this website is set in a relatively-sized font. This means that you can resize the text easily from within your browser. If you need to, you can also change the font, font colour and background colour. Instructions for the most common browser types are provided below:

Adobe Acrobat and accessibility:

This site uses Adobe Reader (previously known as Acrobat) to display PDF documents. If you have trouble using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe also provides advise on how to configure your Reader, and a free download of the Accessible Adobe Reader.

For more information visit the Adobe website Acrobat accessibility section:
http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/acrobat/

Assistive Technology

There are a number of different softwares available to help people with various difficulties to use websites. Below are just a few examples.

Internet Explorer 9 and Later:

To Zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

Use keyboard shortcuts’Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl’ + ‘–‘ to zoom in or out. Use the shortcut ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘0‘ to reset the default font size.

To change the text size:

  • Click on the ‘Tools’ icon.
  • Select ‘Zoom’.
  • Select your option.

Alternatively, if you have a mouse with a wheel you can hold the CTRL key on your keyboard whilst scrolling up or down with the wheel to alter the text size.

To change the font and colour settings:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu icon.
  • Click the Accessibility button and click the three boxes displayed under formatting, so that they are now showing ticks.
  • Follow the instructions below to change font and colours.

To change the font:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu icon.
  • Click on the Fonts button
  • Choose your font from the drop-down menu under Web page font and click the OK button.
  • Arial or Verdana if you have it are two of the easiest fonts to read.

To change text or background colours:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu icon.
  • Click on the Colours button and un-tick the box next to Use Windows colours.
  • To change the colour of the text, click on the button to the right of Text, choose your colour from the palette and click OK.
  • To change the colour of the background, click on the button to the right of Background, choose your colour from the palette and click OK.

To remove images:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu icon.
  • Select the Advanced tab at the top right hand corner of the box.
  • Scroll down to the Multimedia heading.
  • Un-tick the box next to Show Pictures.
  • Click on the Apply button and then click on the OK button.

If you need further help visit the Microsoft Help and Support site.

Internet Explorer 7 and 8:

To Zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

Use keyboard shortcuts’Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘–‘ to zoom in or out

To change the text size:

  • Click on the ‘View’ menu.
  • Select ‘Text Size’.
  • Select your option.

The default is medium. Alternatively, if you have a mouse with a wheel you can hold the CTRL key on your keyboard whilst scrolling up or down with the wheel to alter the text size.

To change the font and colour settings:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
  • Click the Accessibility button and click the three boxes displayed under formatting, so that they are now showing ticks.
  • Follow the instructions below to change font and colours.

To change the font:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
  • Click on the Fonts button
  • Choose your font from the drop-down menu under Web page font and click the OK button.
  • Arial or Verdana if you have it are two of the easiest fonts to read.

To change text or background colours:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
  • Click on the Colours button and un-tick the box next to Use Windows colours.
  • To change the colour of the text, click on the button to the right of Text, choose your colour from the palette and click OK.
  • To change the colour of the background, click on the button to the right of Background, choose your colour from the palette and click OK.

To remove images:

  • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
  • Select the Advanced tab at the top right hand corner of the box.
  • Scroll down to the Multimedia heading.
  • Un-tick the box next to Show Pictures.
  • Click on the Apply button and then click on the OK button.

If you need further help visit the Microsoft Help and Support site

Firefox 3:

To zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

  • Click on ‘View’ in the top menu toolbar.
  • Then select ‘Zoom’.
  • Then select ‘Zoom In’, ‘Zoom Out’ or ‘Reset’.
  • Alternatively you can use keyboard shortcuts’Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘–‘ to zoom in or out (‘Apple’ + ‘+’ or ‘Apple’ + ‘-‘ if you are using a Mac).
  • ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘0‘ returns the zoom level to normal (‘Apple’ + ‘0′ if you are using a Mac).

To increase text size only without zooming images:

  • Click on ‘View’ in the top menu toolbar.
  • Then select ‘Zoom’.
  • Then select ‘Zoom Text Only’. You can then use the Zoom In, Zoom Out and Reset options without affecting the image size.

To change the font and colour settings:

All major changes are done by selecting Options… from the Tools menu

  • Select Content from the top menu in the Options window.
  • Use the Fonts & Colours area of the window to select the default font and size.
  • Use the Advanced… button for more font options.
  • Use the Colours… button to change colours on links, backgrounds etc.

For more Firefox accessibility help see Mozilla support acessibility pages or Access Firefox

 

To zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

  • Click on the ‘Opera’ tools menu in the top left of the screen and use the zoom functionality to resize the content.
  • Alternatively you can use use keyboard shortcuts ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘–‘ to increase or decrease the text size. Use ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘0‘ to reset the default font size.

Opera 11 and Later:

To zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

  • Click the zoom bar in the lower right side of the screen – further to the right zooms in, further left zooms out.
  • You can also click the Page menu and choose the Zoom submenu, which will allow you to choose from a list of preset zoom levels..
  • Alternatively you can use the – and + keyboard shortcuts to decrease and increase the zoom level (some versions may require Shift + +).

Help from the Opera site:

Opera 10:

To zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

  • Click the zoom bar in the lower right side of the screen
  • Select or write how much you would like to zoom
  • Alternatively you can use the – and + keyboard shortcuts to decrease and increase the zoom level (some versions may require Shift + +).

Help from the Opera site:

Opera 8 / 9:

To zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

  • Select the View option from the menu bar.
  • Select the Zoom option.
  • Then select the zoom level you wish to use.
  • Alternatively you can use the – and + keyboard shortcuts to decrease and increase the zoom level (some versions may require Shift + +).

Help from the Opera site:

Safari:

To change the text size:

  • Click on the page icon to the right of the address bar to Control the current page.
  • Use the Zoom option.
  • Alternatively you can use keyboard shortcuts ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘–‘ to increase or decrease the text size (‘Apple’ + ‘+’ or ‘Apple’ + ‘-‘ for Mac users)
  • ‘Ctrl’ + ‘0′ returns the text size to normal (‘Apple’ + ‘0′ for Mac users).

Safari (Mac)

To change the text size:

  • Click on the page icon to the right of the address bar to Control the current page.
  • Use the ‘Make Text Bigger’ and ‘Make Text Smaller’ menu items.
  • Alternatively you can use keyboard shortcuts ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘–‘ to increase or decrease the text size (‘Apple’ + ‘+’ or ‘Apple’ + ‘-‘ for Mac users)
  • ‘Ctrl’ + ‘0′ returns the text size to normal (‘Apple’ + ‘0′ for Mac users).

Google Chrome:

To zoom the screen (this will make text and images larger):

  • Go the ‘View’ menu.
  • Then select ‘Zoom’.
  • Then select ‘Larger’, ‘Normal’ or ‘Smaller’.
  • Alternatively you can use keyboard shortcuts ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘+‘ or ‘Ctrl‘ + ‘–‘ to zoom in or out
  • ‘Ctrl’ + ‘0′ returns the text size to normal