Improving Visibility on the Web

Optimise the way you view your web browser:

If you have difficulty in reading the ECEN website on your screen, you may be able to change the settings on your browser to help you improve their visibility.

How to change visibility features:

The following suggestions to improve the visibility of web pages will apply to any site that you visit. However, you may find that not all pages within a site are compatible.

These instructions have been tested with Internet Explorer version 6 and Netscape version 7.

The following series instructions apply to Internet Explorer browsers. The next series of Instructions apply to Netscape browsers.

Applying permanent changes to font and colour in Microsoft Internet Explorer

To apply the font and colour changes below permanently:

1. on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
2. on the 'General' tab, click on 'Accessibility'
3. click in each of the three boxes to show ticks
4. click 'OK' .

Text with a sans serif font (such as Arial) is easier to read than a serif font (such as Times New Roman).

To change the text font:

1. on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
2. on the 'General' tab, click 'Fonts'.
3. in the 'Web page font' and 'Plain text font' lists, choose the fonts you would like to use.
4. click 'OK'.

To enlarge text in Internet Explorer

To enlarge text:

1. on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
2. on the 'General' tab, click 'Accessibility'
3. tick the 'Ignore font sizes specified on web pages' check box
4. click 'OK'
5. on the 'Browser' menu click 'View'
6. click 'Text size'
7. choose the size of text.

Combinations of fonts, typefaces and background colours used in web page design may result in text being difficult to read. However, you can choose settings to suit you. For example black text on a yellow background gives a distinct contrast.

To change the text colour and background colour:

1. on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Internet Options'
2. on the 'General' tab, click 'Colours'
3. deselect the 'Use Windows Colours' tick box
4. select the box next to 'Text' and choose a colour. Click 'OK'.
5. select the box next to 'Background' and choose a colour. Click 'OK'.

To prevent graphics from appearing on web pages in Internet Explorer

To prevent graphics from appearing on web pages:

1. under 'Tools' , click 'Internet Options'
2. on the 'Advanced' tab, scroll down to the 'Multimedia' heading
3. click on the graphics options ('animations', 'videos', 'pictures' and 'images') to remove the ticks
4. click on 'Apply', and then click on 'OK'.

If the graphics still appear, select 'View' then 'Refresh' from the toolbar, or press F5.

To change the size of the window in Internet Explorer

To change the size of the window:

1. click 'View' then 'Full Screen' from the toolbar, or press F11.

There are other options to tailor web pages that help make them easier to read. These may be found under the 'Tools' menu:

1. click on 'Internet Options'
2. select the 'Advanced' tab

choose from the options available to improve visibility.

For further assistance in changing your browser settings, there is also a 'Help' menu on your browser toolbar. Please refer to this for further information.

Instructions for Netscape Communicator users

To make any changes to your browser settings, you should first open the 'Preferences' box by clicking on 'Edit' and selecting 'Preferences'. You may then choose to make any of the changes listed below.

To change the text font:

1. click on 'Appearance'
2. click 'Font'
3. choose the 'Variable Width Font' and 'Fixed Width Font' you want to use
4. click 'OK'.

If you want to set these fonts for all future usage on your browser, click on 'Use my default fonts overriding document specified fonts'

To change the text and background colours:

1. click on 'Appearance'
2. click 'Colours'
3. select the box next to 'Text' and choose a colour
4. click 'OK'
5. select the box next to 'Background' and choose a colour
6. click 'OK'
7. click 'OK' to close 'Preferences'.

To set these colours as your browser default, click on 'Always use my colours, overriding document'.

To prevent images from loading on web pages:

1. select 'Advanced'
2. click in the box marked 'Automatically load images' to remove the tick
3. click 'OK'