Scope - Accessibility Tips

This page offers information on how to use your browser with a keyboard instead of a mouse, and also how to manipulate the colours, fonts and sizes used in the site to enhance readability of text in the site. The following seven options are available in this page:

Scope keyboard shortcuts
Browser keyboard shortcuts - Microsoft Internet Explorer
Browser keyboard shortcuts - Netscape Navigator
Stylesheet manipulation - Internet Explorer 5.0
Stylesheet manipulation - Internet Explorer 4.0
Stylesheet manipulation - Netscape Navigator 4.7
Stylesheet manipulation - Netscape Navigator 4.0

Keyboard Shortcuts

There are two types of browser shortcuts: those provided by Scope that are only accessible on this site, and generalised shortcuts that are dependent on your browser capabilities.

Scope keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut keys can be used by holding the "Alt" key down (found on the bottom right or bottom left hand corner of your keyboard) and pressing the relevant number and enter.

The six items below (0 to 5) indicate the shortcut keys for navigation in the Scope web site.

Shortcut key for Home is 0
Shortcut key for Site-map is 1
Shortcut key for Find is 2
Shortcut key for Find Submit is 3 (available only from the Find page)
Shortcut key for Contact Us (email link) is 4
Shortcut key for Accessibility tips is 5

Browser Keyboard shortcuts

The information below covers the generalised shortcuts that are dependent on your browser capabilities.

The following browser keyboard shortcuts apply to Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator running under Microsoft Windows. Most of the shortcuts work on Apple Macintosh systems by using the Command key instead of the Control (CTRL) key. Similarly, most shortcuts work on Unix systems by using the ALT key instead of the CTRL key.

The following four keyboard shortcut forms are used throughout the list below:

CTRL = Control
ALT = Alternative
ESC = Escape
UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT = equivalent arrow keys

Microsoft Internet Explorer

The following 24 items indicate keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Internet Explorer. Note that "+" means pressing the two keys at the same time and that an asterisk denotes options only available in Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher:

Move to the next link: TAB
Move to previous link: SHIFT + TAB
Activate a selected link: ENTER
Find text on the current page: CTRL + F
Move to the next page (Forward): SHIFT + BACKSPACE or ALT + RIGHT ARROW
Move to the previous page (Back): BACKSPACE or ALT + LEFT ARROW
Move to the next frame: CTRL + TAB
Move to the previous frame: SHIFT + CTRL + TAB
Scroll towards the beginning of a document: UP ARROW or (in larger increments) PAGE UP
Scroll towards the end of a document: DOWN ARROW or (in larger increments) PAGE DOWN
Move to the beginning of the page: HOME
Move to the end of a page: END
Refresh the current page: F5 or CTRL + R
Stop downloading the current page: ESC
Go to a new location: CTRL + O
Open a new browser window: CTRL + N
Save the current page: CTRL + S
Print the current page or active frame: CTRL + P
Select all in the current page: CTRL + A
Copy the selection: CTRL + C
Close the current window: CTRL + W
Quit the current program: ALT + F4
* Go to the "Homepage": ALT + HOME
* View the web site in full screen: F11 (press F11 to toggle on and off)

Netscape Navigator

The 29 items listed below indicate the keyboard shortcuts for Netscape Navigator.

Move to the next link: TAB
Move to the previous link: SHIFT + TAB
Activate the selected link: ENTER
Find text on the current page: CTRL + F
Find again: CTRL + G or F3
Move to the next page (Forward): ALT + RIGHT ARROW
Move to the previous page (Back): ALT + LEFT ARROW
Scroll towards the beginning of a document: UP ARROW or (in larger increments) PAGE UP
Scroll towards the end of a document: DOWN ARROW or (in larger increments) PAGE DOWN
Move to the beginning of the page: CTRL + HOME
Move to the end of a page: CTRL + END
Refresh the current page: F5 or CTRL + R
Stop downloading the current page: ESC
Go to a new location: CTRL + O
Open a new browser window: CTRL + N
Save the current page: CTRL + S
Add the current page as a bookmark: CTRL + D
* Edit bookmarks: CTRL + B
Print the current page or active frame: CTRL + P
Select all in the current page: CTRL + A
Copy the selection: CTRL + C
Increase font size: CTRL + ]
Decrease font size: CTRL + [
Close the current window: CTRL + W
Quit the current program: CTRL + Q or ALT + F4
* View the source of the current page: CTRL + U
* View the Page Information: CTRL + I
* View History: CTRL + H
* View Security Information on the current page: CTRL + SHIFT + I

Stylesheet manipulation

This page contains instructions on how to change the fonts, colours and sizes on the following four browsers:

Internet Explorer 5.0 (link to section)
Netscape Navigator 4.7 (link to section)
Internet Explorer 4.0 (link to section)
Netscape Navigator 4.0 (link to section)

Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.

Setting the text and background colours - IE 5.0

Use the following procedure to change the colours of the text and the background in Microsoft Explorer V5:

Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.

The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.

Select the General tab.
Click the Colors button.

The system displays the Colors dialogue box.

You can select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background.

Note: If you change the colours significantly, such as to light coloured text on a dark background, you will also need to change the colours of the links, otherwise they may become invisible.

Click OK to close the Colors dialogue box.
Click the Accessibility button.

The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.

Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
Click OK to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Note: Advanced users can create a style sheet to apply their preferences for colour and layout to the web pages in the browser. Internet Explorer V5 permits you to attach your own style sheet under the Accessibility options.

Setting the fonts - IE 5.0

Use the following procedure to change the fonts in Microsoft Internet Explorer V5:

Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.

The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.

Click the Fonts button.

The system displays the Fonts dialogue box.

Select the Web page font and the Plain text font as required.
Click the OK button to close the Fonts dialogue box.
Click the Accessibility button.

The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.

Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
Click the OK button to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Setting the font size - IE 5.0

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

Under the View menu there is the option "Text sizes".
Select the size, from Largest to Smallest from the submenu.

Microsoft Internet Explorer V4.

Setting the text and background colours - IE 4.0

Select Internet Options from the View menu.

The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.

Select the General tab.
Click the Colors button.

The system displays the Colors dialogue box.

You can select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background.

Note: If you change the colours significantly, such as to light coloured text on a dark background, you will also need to change the colours of the links, otherwise they may become invisible.

Click OK to close the Colors dialogue box.
Click the Accessibility button.

The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.

Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
Click OK to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Note: Advanced users can create a style sheet to apply their preferences for colour and layout to the web pages in the browser. Internet Explorer V4 permits you to attach your own style sheet under the Accessibility options.

Setting the fonts - IE 4.0

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

Select Internet Options from the View menu.

The system displays the Internet Options dialogue box.

Click the Fonts button.

The system displays the Fonts dialogue box.

Select the family of the Proportional font and the Fixed Width font as required.
Select the Font size.
Click the Set as Default button.
Click the OK button to close the Fonts dialogue box.
Click the Accessibility button.

The system displays the Accessibility dialogue box.

Select the relevant "ignore" options to force your preferences over the web page settings.
Click the OK button to close the Accessibility dialogue box.
Click the OK button to close the Internet Options dialogue box.

Note: You can temporarily change the font size in the current browser session by selecting Fonts from the View menu. Select the size, from Largest to Smallest from the submenu. You can also add a Font button to the toolbar by selecting the Show Font Button option under the Advanced tab on the Internet Options dialogue box.

Netscape Navigator V4.7

Setting the text and background colours - NN 4.7

Use the following procedure to change the colours of the text and the background in Netscape Navigator V4.7:

Select Preferences from the Edit menu.

The system displays the Preferences dialogue box.

Select the Colors option in the Category field on the left-hand side.
Select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background.
To change the colour of an item, click the coloured buttons to display the Color dialog box.
If you have changed the colour scheme significantly, such as light text on a dark background, it is wise to select the Always use my colors, overriding document option.
Click the box "Always use my colours, overriding document".
Click OK to close the Preferences dialogue box.

Setting the fonts - NN 4.7

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

Use the following procedure to change the fonts in Netscape Navigator V4.7:

Select Preferences from the Edit menu.

The system displays the Preferences dialogue box.

Select the Fonts option in the field on the left-hand side.
Select the family and size of the Variable Width Font and the Fixed Width Font as required.
You can also choose the following options:

Use my default fonts, overriding document-specified fonts: This option uses only the fonts that you have selected.
Use document specified fonts, but disable Dynamic Fonts: This option uses the fonts specified by the web page, but only if they exist on your system.
Use document-specified fonts, including Dynamic Fonts.: This option uses the fonts specified by the web page and will download them if they are not available on your system.

Click the OK button to close the dialogue box.

Note: In addition setting the font size preferences, you can temporarily increase or decrease the font size in the current session by pressing CTRL [ to decrease the font size, or CTRL ] to increase the font size. This feature enables you to "zoom" in or out to make it easier to read the page.

Netscape Navigator V4.

Setting the text and background colours - NN 4.0

Use the following procedure to change the colours of the text and the background in Netscape Navigator V4:

Select Preferences from the Edit menu.

The system displays the Preferences dialogue box.

Select the Colors option in the Category field on the left-hand side.
Select the Use Windows Colors option to use the colours that you have defined for the screen windows in the Windows Control Panel. If you "turn off" the Use Windows Colors option, you can select your own colours for the text and the background.
To change the colour of an item, click the coloured buttons to display the Color dialog box.
If you have changed the colour scheme significantly, such as light text on a dark background, it is wise to select the Always use my colors, overriding document option.
Click OK to close the Preferences dialogue box.

Setting the fonts - NN 4.0

When using a screenreader it is always best to make the font as small as possible. This stops the text from wrapping which allows the screenreader to read it more easily.

Use the following procedure to change the fonts in Netscape Navigator V4:

Select Preferences from the Edit menu.

The system displays the Preferences dialogue box.

Select the Fonts option in the field on the left-hand side.
Select the family and size of the Variable Width Font and the Fixed Width Font as required.
You can also choose the following options:

Use my default fonts, overriding document-specified fonts: This option uses only the fonts that you have selected.
Use document specified fonts, but disable Dynamic Fonts: This option uses the fonts specified by the web page, but only if they exist on your system.
Use document-specified fonts, including Dynamic Fonts.: This option uses the fonts specified by the web page and will download them if they are not available on your system.

Click the OK button to close the dialogue box.