Introduction

This site has been designed so that it is easy to use.  If you are having difficulties you may find the information in this section helpful.

This section will give you an overview of how you can make alterations to your browser or screen resolution, and how to get the best from your computer.

Changing the site's appearance

Text size

Follow these steps to increase or decrease the size of the text on our site.

1. Open the 'View' menu with the mouse or by pressing Alt+V.
2. Select the 'Text Size' option with the mouse or by pressing X.
3. Choose your preferred text size with the mouse or by using the up and down arrow keys and pressing Enter.

The text on our website will now have changed to reflect your choice.

Text style

If you want to change the text style (font) of the site, the following steps override the style we have chosen with that of your preferred choice.

1. Open the Tools menu with the mouse or by pressing Alt+T.
2. Select the Internet Options option with the mouse or by pressing O.
3. Select the Accessibility button with the mouse or by pressing Alt+E.
4. Check the "Ignore font styles specified on web page" checkbox with the mouse or by pressing Alt+S.
5. Select the OK button with the mouse or by pressing Enter.
6. Select the "Fonts" button with the mouse or by pressing Alt+N.
7. Select a web page font of your choice with the mouse or by pressing Alt+W and arrowing through the list.
8. Select the OK button twice with the mouse or by pressing Enter twice.

Colour settings

You may wish to impose a different combination of text and background colours than those chosen by us. To do so please follow these steps.

1. Open the Tools menu with the mouse or by pressing Alt+T.
2. Select the Internet Options option with the mouse or by pressing O.
3. Select the Colors button with the mouse or by pressing Alt+O.
4. Choose to have your Windows colour scheme reflected by selecting the "Use Windows color scheme" option with the mouse or by pressing Alt+W.

or

1. Select either the Text button with the mouse (or by pressing Alt+T), or the Background button with the mouse (or by pressing Alt+B).
2. Select the colour of your choice with the mouse or by using the arrow keys.
3. Select the OK button twice with the mouse or by pressing Enter twice.

Screen resolution

Because the sizes of monitors differ, monitor resolution can't be measured in dots per inch (dpi). Instead, the resolution of a monitor refers to the number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen. For example, in a 640 x 480 resolution, there are 640 horizontal lines are drawn across the screen and 480 drawn vertically. Some common monitor resolutions are

• 640 x 480 - images and text on the screen will appear very large - requires scrolling
• 800 x 600 - images and text on the screen will appear large - requires scrolling
• 1,024 x 768 - images and text on the screen will appear small - may not requires scrolling
• 1,280 x 1,024. - images and text on the screen will appear smaller - may not requires scrolling

The larger the images and text appear, the more scrolling will be required.

1. Click the Start button (bottom left corner of screen)
2. From the Settings menu, click on Control Panel
3. Double-click on Display to open
4. Click on the Settings tab
5. Drag the Display or screen area slider to the right until it reads 1024 by 760 or larger. If this resolution is not available on the computer you are using, choose 800 by 600. [Note that you will need to scroll more on web pages when using this lower resolution)
6. Click on OK to save changes
7. After the screen resizes, click the OK button again to confirm the new screen size

or

1. Minimize all open windows
2. Right click anywhere on the desktop as long as it is not on an icon
3. Select Properties from the pop-up menu
4. From the window that appears click on the Settings tab
5. You will see a slider titled Desktop area. Move the slider up to 800 x 600 pixels, click on OK
6. A pop-up window titled Display Properties will appear with the text: Windows will now adjust your display settings. This could take a few seconds, during which your screen might flicker. If Windows does not reappear correctly, wait 15 seconds, and your original settings will be restored.
7. Click on OK to see your display change and Windows will ask: Do you want to keep this setting?
8. Click Yes

System colour scheme

It is possible to modify the appearance of your operating system so that you can have your particular colour and font preferences, though there are more options available for changing the settings in Windows.

1. Click on the Start button in the bottom left corner of the screen
2. Select Settings, and then Control Panel
3. Open the Display section either by double left clicking on the icon, or by highlighting the icon and pressing Enter
4. Click on the Appearance tab to see the options available in this section

Then either -

1. Click on the arrow in the Colour scheme box to display the colour scheme options available
2. Scroll down the list to see each one previewed above and, when you find one that is suitable, press Enter to select it. (Some of these colour schemes have large font versions)

Or

1. Click on the arrow in the Item box to display all the objects whose colour you can change
2. Select the item that you want to change, then open up the colour options by clicking on the Colour button. (Clicking on other inside the Colour box will give you the full range of colours available on the system)
3. Choose the colour you want for that item

Repeat this for every item whose colour you want to change, then click on OK to save the changes to your system

Mouse settings

You can change:

• three settings for the mouse speed of clicking
• choose right- or left-handed use
• affect the visibility and size of the mouse pointers
• choose the speed of the points
• affect motion.
  1. Click on the Start button in the bottom left corner of the screen
  2. Select Settings, and then Control Panel
  3. Open the Mouse section either by double left clicking on the icon, or by highlighting the icon and pressing Enter

To change the speed of clicking, and whether for right or left-handed use -

1. Click on the Buttons tab
2. Select right- or left-handed
3. Select single or double click for opening items
4. Drag the slider along to choose the speed for double-clicking
5. Click on Apply to save your changes

To change the visibility and size of the mouse pointers -

1. Click on the Pointers tab
2. Choose the scheme of pointers from the drop-down menu (previewed in the box to the right)
3. Click on Apply to save your changes

To change the motion of the mouse -

1. Click on the Motion tab
2. Drag the slider along to choose the speed you want for the mouse
3. Select the acceleration that you prefer
4. Click on Apply to save your changes.

Keyboard settings

You can change:

• the time that elapses before a held down key starts repeating
• how quickly characters are repeated when you hold down a key
• the rate at which the cursor blinks.

To change any of these -

1. Click on the Start button in the bottom left corner of the screen
2. Select Settings, and then Control Panel
3. Open the Keyboard section either by double left clicking on the icon, or by highlighting the icon and pressing Enter
4. Select your speeds using the three sliders
5. Click on Apply, then on OK to save your changes

Assistive technology

AbilityNet provides an excellent resource listing all alternative and supportive technologies for people with disabilities. You can access this information by selecting the link below:

• www.abilitynet.org.uk/edu_at

Further help

Useful links

AbilityNet has done much work on bringing together a list of useful links. These are available by selecting the link below:

• www.abilitynet.org.uk/weblinks

Contact Walsall CAB

If you do not find what you want or would like further assistance contact us by:

• Telephone
• Visit the main Bureau
• Attending one of our Outreach Venues
• Advice is also available by email at: advice@cab.walsall.org.uk