Web Site Accessibility Hints and Tips

This web site is designed to be viewed in popular Microsoft Internet Explorer 7+ or Firefox 3+ web browsers. Please note that some navigation features will not display correctly if viewed in some obsolete browsers.

Get Internet Explorer nowMicrosoft Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) has several useful features that helps users with accessibility aspects. You can override a web site's font or colour settings, for example.

Zooming In or Out

In both IE7 and Firefox 3+, you can zoom in or out by pressing CTRL and + or CTRL and - on your keyboard. IE7 provides a Zoom control located at the screen's bottom right-hand corner:

How to zoom in or out in Internet Explorer 7

In Firefox 3+ go View / Zoom in the menu:

How to zoom text in Firefox

Font size

Note that in Firefox (above) you can tick the option to "Zoom Text Only". In IE7 the text size can be enlarged as follows: go Menu / View / Text Size and set your preferred option (see below). You can also add a Text Size button to the icon bar.

How to change font size in Internet Explorer

Advanced Accessibility Options

IE7 can override basic web page settings so that pages display more to your taste. Go Tools / Internet Options / General / Accessibility

How to change formatting in Internet Explorer 7

Advanced users can go further by creating their own CSS (cascading style sheet): this means users don't have to accept the web designer's settings. More information about CSS is at Wikipedia. It looks horribly complicated(!) and a simple web design textbook might be of help.

For blind or partially sighted users, there are various software products that will empower your Internet usage. The free WebbIE3 browser does a fair job of "translating" web pages into a text-only version. A screenreader program will convert written text into speech: the JAWS for Windows screen reader claims to be the most popular one worldwide.

Many of these and other products are well-known in specialist circles, and advice can be obtained from various bodies including the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

We can incorporate special design features into our client web sites when enhanced accessibility is needed.

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