Accessibility

Keyboard alternatives to the mouse

Windows has built-in keyboard shortcuts for many functions. For example, you can access the menu bar items (File, Edit etc.) by pressing Alt and then the letter which is underlined in the menu bar word: e.g. ‘f’ for File.

To find out more, see the BBC’s My Web, My Way website:
Windows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/win/keyboard/mouse_alt/sub_2.shtml
Mac: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/mac/keyboard/mouse_alt/sub_2.shtml

This Citizens Advice Bureau website has its own shortcuts, which enable you to move between sections without using the mouse. Press Alt and then the letter underlined in the section link you want to follow: for example, ‘g’ for Get Advice. Then press ‘Enter’.

Changing the site’s appearance

Text size

We have not fixed the text size of the website, so you can change how it appears. The BBC’s My Web, My Way site advises on this:
Windows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/win/seeing/text/sub_2.shtml
Mac: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/mac/seeing/text/sub_2.shtml

Text style / font

If you want to change the text style (font) of the site, the following steps override the style we have chosen with your preferred choice.

Again, the BBC is the best resource on how to do this:
Windows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/win/language/text/sub_2.shtml
Mac: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/mac/language/text/sub_2.shtml

Screen resolution

Because the sizes of monitors differ, monitor resolution cannot be measured in dots per inch (dpi). Instead, the resolution of a monitor refers to the number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen. For example, in a 640 x 480 resolution, 640 horizontal lines are drawn across the screen and 480 drawn vertically. Some common monitor resolutions are:

• 640 x 480 - images and text on the screen will appear very large - requires scrolling
• 800 x 600 - images and text on the screen will appear large - requires scrolling
• 1,024 x 768 - images and text on the screen will appear small - may not require scrolling
• 1,280 x 1,024. - images and text on the screen will appear smaller - may not require scrolling.

The larger the images and text appear, the more scrolling will be required.

If you are using Windows, you can change the screen resolution by following these instructions from Microsoft:

Windows XP: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/screenresolution.aspx

Windows 2000: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windows2000/lowerres.aspx

System colour scheme

It is possible to modify the appearance of your operating system so that you can have your particular colour and font preferences. You can also change colour schemes within the web browser. Again, we have not set the colours, which means you can override our choices with your own.

The BBC’s website offers guidance:
Windows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/win/seeing/colour/sub_2.shtml
Mac: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/mac/seeing/colour/sub_2.shtml

Mouse settings

You can:

• choose three settings for the mouse speed of clicking
• choose right- or left-handed use
• affect the visibility and size of the mouse pointers
• choose the speed of the points
• affect motion.

Windows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/win/keyboard/mouse_easy/sub_2.shtml
Mac: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/mac/keyboard/mouse_easy/sub_2.shtml

Keyboard settings

You can change:

• the time that elapses before a held down key starts repeating
• how quickly characters are repeated when you hold down a key
• the rate at which the cursor blinks.

Windows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/win/keyboard/keyboard_easy/sub_2.shtml
Mac: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/mac/keyboard/keyboard_easy/sub_2.shtml

Useful accessibility links

AbilityNet offers a great deal of information on how you can set your computer to make it work for you.
http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/

The BBC’s My Web, My Way site offers a wealth of information on alternative ways to browse the web.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/

Microsoft offers guidance on the various ways on interacting with their software.
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/default.aspx