Browser Settings

If you are having difficulties viewing our pages, most browsers allow users to change the settings to alter the way pages are displayed, which may improve readability.

Most browsers allow you to:

Note: The information listed on this page is for Internet Explorer 7 and below. Our stats show that this is what most of our visitors use. For information on how to change the settings of different browsers please click here to visit the Accessibility Help section on the BBC web site, which has comprehensive listings for all browsers and operating systems.

How to change the font size:

Go to 'View' and select 'Text Size' and select the appropriate size text, e.g. 'largest'.
Adjust as appropriate.

How to change the font style:

From the browser menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'.
Click on the 'Accessibility' option, which can be found under the 'General' tab.
Tick the 'Ignore font styles specified on Web pages' option.
Click 'OK'.
Back at the 'General' tab, click 'Fonts'.
From this screen you can change the way your pages display 'web page font' and 'plain text font.'
Once you have chosen your required settings, click 'OK'.
Click 'OK' again to close the 'Internet Options' box.

How to override font and colour settings:

From the browser menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'. Click on the 'Accessibility' option, which can be found under the 'General' tab.

You will see the following options:

Ignore colours specified on web pages.
Ignore font styles specified on web pages.
Ignore font sizes specified on web pages.
Tick the options that are appropriate to you.
Click 'OK'.
Click 'OK' again to close the 'Internet Options' box.

How to change the colour of the text and background:

From the browser menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'.
Click on the 'Colours' option, which can be found under the 'General' tab.
Untick the 'Use windows colours' option.
Select your own text and background colours (black text on a yellow background provides the most contrast).
To change the colours of visited and unvisited links, click on the colours and select your preferred colour from the palette that appears.
Click 'OK'.
Click 'OK' again to close the 'Internet Options' box.

How to stop images downloading:

This allows you to view only text and the page will load much faster.
From the main menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'.
Go to the 'Advanced' tab.
Scroll down the settings until you reach 'Multimedia'.
Untick the 'Show pictures' option.
Click 'OK' to close the 'Internet Options' box.

This page has been adapted from NHS Choices.