Assistive Technology Partners' site is designed to let you change the text size, text and background colors, and other display settings through standard browser settings. The advantage of using the browser settings is that these settings will also work for all other websites which follow web accessibility guidelines.
To change the text size for only the Assistive Technology Partners website, you may use the following links.
Most Web browsers include functionality to let you increase or decrease the text size in a Web page. For example, to increase text size:
Browser
Example
Menu Items
Macintosh Shortcut
Windows Shortcut
Internet Explorer(6 and below)
View >
Text Size >
Largest
Firefox 3
View >
Zoom >
Zoom In
Command+
Ctrl + +
or
Ctrl + Mouse Scroll Wheel Up or Down
Firefox(2 and below),
Netscape
View >
Text Size >
Increase
Command+
Ctrl + +
Opera
View >
Zoom >
%
Command+
+
or
Ctrl + Mouse Scroll Wheel Up or Down
Chrome
(Page Control icon) >
Text zoom >Larger
Ctrl + +
or
Ctrl + Mouse Scroll Wheel Up or Down
Safari
View >
Make Text Bigger
Command+
Ctrl + +
or
Ctrl + Mouse Scroll Wheel Up or Down
Many browsers also include a "zoom" button in the lower right portion of the window. This button aides in increasing the text size on the page and in many cases it increases the entire page, not just the text. Internet Explorer version 7 and Opera version 9 include this button. There are also different Add-Ons available for Firefox that can provide this functionality including QuickPageZoom and Zoom toolbar.
Browser
Example
Comments
Internet Explorer 7
Located in the lower right of the browser window.
Firefox with the QuickZoom Add-On installed
QuickZoom adds three options upon a right mouse click: zoom in page, zoom out page and reset page size. It also adds a zoom in and zoom out button to the status bar.
Firefox with the Zoom toolbar Add-On installed
The Zoom toolbar adds three buttons to the navigation toolbar.
Opera 9
Located in the lower right of the browser window.
Video Summary
The following video shows how to change the text size for Internet Explorer 6 and 7 and Firefox 2. It summarizes the information above and also includes other methods. For Firefox 3, the Text Size Toolbar extension does not work. Instead, the Zoom Toolbar extension, as described above can be used as an alternative. The video does not include any information about Opera, Chrome or Safari.
Why doesn't this work with some other Web sites?
The browser settings on this page should work when browsers and Web sites meet WAI guidelines and are designed for accessibility, flexibility, and user control. However, some browsers do not provide as much user control, and some Web sites are designed to defeat browser settings. Text resizing does not work well in browsers and Web sites that do not meet accessibility guidelines.
In Internet Explorer Version 6 and earlier, the text may not resize because the Web site is designed with "hard-coded" or "absolute" text sizes. To override Web site setting:
Menu items: Tools > Internet Options
In Internet Options dialog box: Accessibility button (bottom right)
In Accessibility dialog box:
[/] Ignore colors specified on Web pages
[/] Ignore font styles specified on Web pages
[/] Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages
In Internet Explorer Version 7, all aspects of a Web site, including fonts and images are resized. Resizing works fairly well with newer versions of Internet Explorer, even with sites that are not "coded" for flexibility.
In Firefoxearly versions(lower than 3.0), the text should resize even if the Web site text is not "coded" for flexibility. However the sections of the Web site may not resize, making it difficult to use the site with large text. This is because the Web site was designed with "hard-coded" or "absolute" sizes. Firefox does not resize images.
In newer versions of Firefox (3.0 and up), all elements of a web page are resized, including text and images. Resizing should work fairly well in newer versions of Firefox, even for sites that are not "coded" for flexibility.
Opera resizes all aspects of a Web site, including font, images and sections. Resizing should work fairly well in Opera, even if the Web site is not "coded" for flexibility.
Google Chrome (version 1.0) supports enlarging the text size, however it does not also enlarge other elements on the page, such as images.
Apple Safari (version 3.2) supports enlarging the text size, however it does not also enlarge other elements on the pages, such as images.
For a Plain Layout View
Turning off the style sheet gives a plain layout view, which:
makes text black on a white background (or however your browser is set)
puts all the information in one column (called "linearized")
leaves content images
removes background images
Browser
Example
Menu Items
Firefox
View >
Page Style >
No Style
Safari
Windows
If the Develop menu is not showing,
Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab in the upper pane > click on "Show Develop menu in menu bar"
After the Develop menu appears
Develop > Disable Styles
Opera
View >
Style >
User Mode
Other Text and Color Changes
Many browsers provide functionality to set different aspects of font and color. Below are examples of how to access this functionality.
Browser
Example
To access functionality:
Firefox(version 3)
Windows Menu items:Tools > Options
In dialog box: Content (in the upper pane), Fonts & Colors section
Firefox (version 2)
Windows Menu items:Tools > Options Macintosh Menu items: Firefox > Preferences
In dialog box: General (in the left pane), Fonts & Colors (button)
Chrome
Customize and control Google Chrome button > Options
In dialog box: Minor Tweaks tab, Change font and language settings (button)
Safari
Windows Menu items: Edit > Preferences
In dialog box: Appearance (in the upper pane)
Opera(version 9)
Windows Menu items: Tools > Preferences
Macintosh Menu items: Opera > Preferences
In dialog box: Web Pages (in the upper pane)
Opera(version 8 or below)
.
Windows Menu items: Tools > Preferences Macintosh Menu items: Opera > Preferences
In dialog box: Fonts and Page Style (in the left pane)
Should all Web sites include instructions like this?
It is not an accessibility requirement that Web sites include information on changing text sizes and colors like this page. Assistive Technology Partners chose to include this information to help people who want to know how to change their browser settings and may not know how.
Web browsers and Web sites should be designed following WAI guidelines so that people can easily change text sizes and colors.
Note: No Browser Endorsement
Assistive Technology Partners does not endorse specific Web browsers and does not recommend one browser over another. While some common browsers are included in this page, mention of a specific browser does not imply endorsement or recommendation.
Acknowledgment
This page was adapted, with permission, from a page created by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium.
