Website Accessibility Help Guide

There are a number of programmes available that enable your computer to talk to you.

Microsoft Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads text on the screen aloud and describes some events (such as an error message appearing) that happen while you’re using the computer. You can find more information on how to use Narrator on the Microsoft website or at Narrator

There are also a number of Screen Reader programmes with more features, such as being able to read whole documents. Some of the most popular include:

NVDA NV Access
WebAnywhere
SuperNova
VoiceOver
Firevox
Orca
JAWS

For Mac users, the Mac operating system also has a built-in speech to text function, which you can access by going to ‘System Preferences’ and ‘Accessibility’ to customise the computer to support your individual needs whether: vision, hearing, physical and motor, learning and literacy requirements.

All recent versions of Microsoft Windows include magnification software. This allows you to greatly increase text size, although this will be restricted to only a small proportion of the screen. To use Windows magnifier, click on ‘Start’ then select ‘Programmes’ followed by ‘Accessories’ and ‘Magnifier’. You can then select the amount of magnification you want from the dialog box that will appear on screen.
For Mac users, you can select the screen magnifier option by going to ‘System Preferences’ then ‘Accessibility’ and select ‘Zoom’.

You can increase the size of the mouse pointer on your screen. In Microsoft Windows you do this by clicking on ‘Start’ then selecting ‘Control Panel’ followed by ‘Hardware and Sound’ and ‘Devices and Printers’. You can then click on ‘Mouse’ followed by ‘Mouse Pointer Options’ and select any changes you want.

For Mac users, click on ‘System Preferences’ and select ‘Accessibility’ followed by ‘Pointer Control’ or ‘Mouse’ & ‘Trackpad’. You can then make the mouse pointer bigger by sliding the Cursor Size bar.

Some people find that it is easier to use a mouse at a slower speed. In Microsoft Windows, you can change this setting in the same way as you change the size of your mouse pointer. From the ‘Mouse Pointer Options’ menu just slide the ‘Select a pointer speed’ bar to slow or speed up the mouse.

For Mac users, from the ‘Mouse’ & ‘Trackpad’ menu you can use the ‘Tracking Speed’ slider bar to change the mouse speed.

For people who are unable to use a mouse or trackpad, it is possible to navigate around a computer screen using different keystrokes on the keyboard.

There is further information on keyboard shortcuts on the Microsoft Windows website and on the Mac computers, ‘System Preferences’ and ‘Keyboard’. You can also find information on using the keyboard with different web browsers and other programmes in this RNIB guide.

For more detailed guidance on how to increase accessibility and change how your device or web browser works, we recommend the following websites:

Windows
For information about accessibility options using a Windows PC see Windows Accessibility features

Apple
For information about accessibility options using an Apple PC see Apple accessibility for OSX

On an iPhone or iPad
For information about accessibility options using an iPhone see? Apple accessibility for ios

On an Android device
For information about accessibility options using an Android device see the Android accessibility help centre