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Browser settings

It is possible to improve your viewing experience by customising the background colour, the text colour, the text size and the text style through the settings on your browser.  Below are instructions for customising settings in some browsers

Firefox Browser

Changing the size of the text

  • Go to the 'View menu'
  • Select 'Text Size' and then select 'Increase' or ‘Decrease’
  • Repeat until the desired text size is achieved

The same effect is achieved by pressing 'Ctrl' and '+' keys simultaneously to increase the text size, or 'Ctrl' and '-' keys simultaneously to decrease the text size.

Changing the colours used and the text settings

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu
  • Select 'Options'  
  • Click on ‘General’
  • Click the 'Font & Colors...' button
  • Over-ride the colours and fonts used on this site by ticking the boxes marked 'Always use my: Fonts' and 'Always use my: Colors'
  • Specify the colours to use for the text, background and links
  • Alter the settings for the fonts to use when displaying text
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and to close the ‘Font & Colours’ box
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to close the ‘Options’ box

Disabling images

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu
  • Select 'Options...'  
  • Click on ‘Web Features’
  • Uncheck the ‘Load Images’ check box
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change and to close the ‘Options’ box

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Internet Explorer 5/6 Browser

Changing the size of the text

  • Go to the 'View’ menu
  • Select 'Text Size'
  • Select the desired text size

Alter the accessibility options

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu
  • Select 'Internet Options...'  
  • Click the 'Accessibility...' button
  • Tick the boxes
    'Ignore colors specified on Web pages'
    ‘Ignore font styles specified on Web pages’
    ‘Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages’
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Internet Options’ box

Choosing the colours of text and links

  • Follow the instructions to ‘Alter the accessibility options’
  • Go to the ‘Tools’ menu
  • Select ‘Internet Options…’
  • Click on the ‘Colors’ button
  • Uncheck the box 'Use Windows colors'  
  • Specify the colours to use for text, background and links
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Internet Options’ box

Disabling images

  • Click on the ‘View’ or the ‘Tools’ menu (depends on your browser version)
  • Select ‘Internet Options…’
  • Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab
  • Scroll down to the ‘Multimedia’ heading
  • Uncheck the box ‘Show Pictures’
  • Click the ‘Apply’ button to accept the change to the settings
  • Click the ‘OK’ to close the ‘Internet Options’ box

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Netscape Navigator

Changing the size of the text

  • Go to the 'View menu'
  • Select 'Text Size' and then select 'Larger' or ‘Smaller’, repeating until the text is the desired size  

In Netscape Navigator 6 and above, the same effect is achieved by pressing 'Ctrl' and '+' keys simultaneously to increase the text size, or 'Ctrl' and '-' keys simultaneously to decrease the text size.

Changing the text settings in version 6 and above

  • Go to the ‘Edit’ menu
  • Select ‘Preferences’
  • Select ‘Appearance’
  • Select ‘Fonts’
  • Select ‘Always use my font settings, overriding web page fonts’ or ‘Allow documents to use other fonts’ (depending on the browser version)
  • Adjust the font settings to meet your needs
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Preference’ box  

    Changing the text settings in earlier versions

  • Go to the ‘Edit’ menu
  • Select ‘Preferences’
  • Select ‘Appearance’
  • Select ‘Fonts’
  • Select ‘ Use my default fonts, overriding document-specified fonts’
  • Adjust the font settings to meet your needs
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Preference’ box

Changing the colour of the text/background in version 6 and above

  • Go to the ‘Edit’ menu
  • Select ‘Preferences’
  • Select ‘Appearance’
  • Select ‘Colors’
  • Uncheck ‘Use system colors’ or ‘Use windows colors’ (depending on the browser version)
  • Select ‘Use my chosen colors, ignoring the colors ….’
  • Specify the colours to use for text, background and links
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and then ‘OK’ again to close the ‘Preference’ box

Changing the colour of the text/background in earlier versions

  • Go to the ‘Edit’ menu
  • Select ‘Preferences’
  • Select ‘Appearance’
  • Select ‘Colors’
  • Uncheck ‘Use Windows colors’
  • Select ‘ Always use my colors, overriding document’
  • Specify the colours to use for text, background and links
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Preference’ box

Disabling images in version 6 and above

  • Go to ‘Edit’ menu
  • Select ’Preferences’
  • Click on ‘Advanced’ or ‘Privacy & Security’ (depending on the browser version)
  • Select ‘Images’
  • Select ‘Do not load any images‘
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Preference’ box

Disabling images in earlier versions

  • Go to ‘Edit’ menu
  • Select ’Preferences’
  • Click on ‘Advanced’
  • Select ‘Images’
  • Uncheck the box next to ‘Automatically load Images’
  • Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the change to the settings and close the ‘Preference’ box

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