Accessibility Instructions

Recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS contain many accessibility features that can assist computer users who are blind or vision impaired.

Adjusting the Text Size

You can use the following options within your browser to adjust text size:

Internet Explorer – Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP

1. Go to the ‘View’ pull-down menu
2. Go to ‘Text Size’
3. A pop-up menu should appear showing you five different text sizes. Select ‘Larger’ or ‘Largest’ to make the text larger. This will also increase the size on many other Internet sites.

Internet Explorer – Windows Vista / 7

1. Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard
2. Press the ‘+’ key to make the text bigger or the ‘-‘ key to make the text smaller
3. Keep repeating step 2 until the text is at a suitable size

Safari – Mac OS

1. Hold down the ‘Apple’ key and press the ‘+’ key
2. Repeat until the text is at a suitable large

FireFox – all platforms

1. Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard
2. Press the ‘+’ key to make the text bigger or the ‘-‘ key to make the text smaller
3. Keep repeating step 2 until the text is at a suitable size

Adjusting the Colours

You can use the following options within your browser to adjust contrast:

Internet Explorer – Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP / Vista / 7

1. Go to the ‘Tools’ pull-down menu
2. Select ‘Internet Options’
3. In the bottom-left hand corner you will see a ‘Colors’ button. Select this button
4. Select the colours that you want by selecting the current colour and then select a new colour
5. Select OK on the ‘Colors’ screen
6. Select OK on the ‘Internet Optons’ screen.

Safari – Mac OS

The easiest way to change the colours is to use the built-in ‘reverse’ feature in Mac OS 10.4 Tiger or higher. This will reverse all colours on the screen. This option can be selected by holding down the ‘CTRL’, ‘Option’ and ‘Apple’ keys while pressing the number ‘8′

Repeat step 1 to change the colours back to normal.

Text-to-Speech Access

Windows 98 / 2000 / XP / Vista / 7:

You can purchase an additional software program such as JAWS which will allow your computer to read aloud web pages to you. For more information, please contact us.

Mac OS:

Mac OS 10.4 Tiger and higher have a built-in program called VoiceOver which can read aloud text on your computer screen, including web pages. To turn on VoiceOver, hold down the ‘Apple’ key and press the ‘F5′ key. Further information about VoiceOver is available on the Apple website.

All platforms:

“Webanywhere” is a web page that can read aloud web pages. More information is available on the Webanywhere website.