Did you know that all modern browsers allow you to change text size. Most use the View Menu or alternatively keyboard Control and + or −.
| Browser | View Menu | Keyboard | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|
| FireFox 3 | yes | yes | CTRL +/−/0 |
| FireFox 2 | Text Only | yes | CTRL +/−/0 |
| Safari for Windows | yes | yes | CTRL +/−/0 |
| Opera 9.10/9.26 | Zoom page | yes | CTRL +/− 100%, +/−/* in 10% page zoom steps |
| Internet Explorer 7 | 5 text sizes | yes | CTRL +/−/0 Zooms page |
| Konqueror | Text only | yes | CTRL +/− |
| Internet Explorer 6 | 5 text sizes | No, View Menu only | |
| Internet Explorer 5.5 | 5 text sizes | No, View Menu only | |
But using this method to alter text size may affect the layout adversely, However, both Opera and IE 7 have a (Page) Zoom facility which alters the image size well and maintains the page layout.
Also, Firefox (my preferred browser), Opera and Konqueror — the popular Linux browser, will allow you to choose from a list of pre–defined page styles, if the web designer has offered them. Besides the basic page style you would be able to choose, for example, 'Large Text' or 'Xtra Large'. Pull down the View menu and select 'Style', 'Page Style' or 'Use Stylesheet' to see the options.
Some browsers (Firefox, for example) utilize the Tab key to change focus to the next available link. Go backwards with Shift–Tab. To avoid having to Tab through all the links to get to a link in the page you may be able to use the 'Access Key' combination.
Using the Access Keys; On loading a fresh page on this web site using the access key '2' will skip the navigation links and go to the main page content. Access key '1' will go to the top of the page and Access key '9' will go to the foot of the page. Don't forget, on a short page where there is no scroll bar it will appear not to work!
Use these key-combinations to use the 'access' keys on your browser.
| Browser | Hold down the... |
|---|---|
| FireFox (PC) | ALT key and press the number of the access key |
| FireFox & Safari (Mac) | CTRL key and press the number of the access key |
| Opera 9.10 | Shift key and press Esc, release both keys, then press the number of the accesskey |
| Konqueror | Press CTRL to display accesskey numbers over links, press the number |
| Netscape 7 (PC) | ALT key and press the number of the access key |
| Internet Explorer 5+ (Mac) | CTRL key and press the number of the access key |
| Internet Explorer 5+ (PC) | ALT key, press the number of the access key, release both keys then press ENTER |
Text–to–Speech screen readers should be able to read the expanded title of acronyms and abbreviations. Mouse users can hover over an abbreviation or acronym and see the expanded text.
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