Accessibility in Microsoft Products

Accessibility in Internet Explorer 10

Internet Explorer 10 includes accessibility settings to help all users, including those with disabilities, move around the Internet easier, see webpages more clearly, and access information quicker.

Features described here apply to Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT. If you use a touch-enabled computer you will swipe and tap to navigate rather than pressing keys and clicking options and icons with the mouse pointer.

Make webpages easier to see

For better visibility of webpages you can change the fonts, font sizes, text and background colors, or zoom in on a webpage to enlarge it, or zoom out to see more of the page on screen.

Zoom in on a webpage
Make everything on a webpage easier to see by zooming in, or enlarging the whole page—including images and text.

With a webpage open, press Ctrl+Plus sign (+) to zoom in, or Ctrl+Minus sign (-) to zoom out.

Or, open Internet Explorer, swipe in from the upper right side of your screen, tap or click Settings, tap or click Internet Options, and then use the Zoom slider to set the zoom level.
screen shot of the Zoom control slider in Internet Explorer 10 settings
Screen shot of the Zoom control slider in Internet Explorer 10 settings

Or, while viewing Internet Explorer for the desktop, tap or click the Toolstools icon button at the top of the window, tap or click Zoom, and then select Zoom in, or Zoom out, or the desired percentage. You can also select Custom to set a percentage up to 1,000 percent.

screen shot of Tools button in Internet Explorer 10
Tools button in Internet Explorer 10

screen shot of Internet Options Tools menu open to Zoom level options
Internet Options Tools menu open to Zoom level options

Make text larger or smaller

You can increase or decrease the font size on a webpage to make it more legible in Internet Explorer for the desktop.

To change the text size, open Internet Explorer for the desktop. Then press the Alt key to display the menu bar. Tap or click View, and then tap or click Text size. Choose to make text larger or smaller than the size on the screen.

screen shot of webpage open on the desktop with View menu open and Text size: Medium selected
Webpage open on the desktop with View menu open and Text size: Medium selected

Change the font size, formatting, and screen colors

To make webpages easier to see, you can change the font type and size, and the foreground and background colors that are used to display webpages. You can also specify the color used for links in webpages, and override colors used on webpages.

With an Internet Explorer window open on the desktop, tap or click Internet Options from the Tools menu.

screen shot of Internet Options dialog box with Colors, Fonts, and Accessibility buttons highlighted
Internet Options dialog box Colors, Fonts, Accessibility buttons

Then, select one of the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box:

  • Fonts—to change the font type and size used on webpages.
  • Colors—to change the font colors used on webpages.
  • Accessibility—to make Internet Explorer ignore colors, font styles and font sizes used on webpages, or to format webpages using your own style sheet.

screen shot of Fonts dialog box where font preferences are selected
Fonts dialog box where font preferences are selected

screen shot of Colors dialog box where webpage color preferences are selected
Colors dialog box where webpage color preferences are selected

screen shot of Accessibility dialog box where Formatting options and style sheets are selected
Accessibility dialog box where Formatting options and style sheets are selected

Improve the legibility of printed webpages
To make text on webpages stand out more clearly from background colors and images when you print the pages, you can choose not to print background colors. To prevent background colors and images from printing, open Internet Explorer on the desktop, then tap or click the Tools button, tap or click the arrow next to Print, and then tap or click Page setup. Under Paper Options, clear the Print Background Colors and Images check box, and then click OK.

screen shot of Page Setup dialog box where printing of background colors and images can be turned on or off
Page Setup dialog box where printing of background colors and images can be turned on or off

Move around the web quickly using the keyboard

Use the keyboard to surf the web
You can quickly move around the web by using one key and one key combination: TAB or SHIFT+TAB. With these keys you can quickly navigate through links that are text or images, text fields on website forms, hotspots on image maps, the Address bar, the Tabs bar, and HTML frames. But, there's even more you can do with keyboard shortcuts to save time and effort, see Internet Explorer 10 keyboard shortcuts.

Select text and move around a webpage with a keyboard
You can use the keyboard keys Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, the arrow keys, and TAB to navigate through the buttons, content, and text entry fields on most webpages. This feature is called Caret Browsing.

To use Caret Browsing, tap or click the Tools menu, tap or click File, and then tap or click Caret Browsing. Press F7 when Internet Explorer is open on your desktop to turn Caret Browsing on and off.

screen shot of Internet Options: Tools: File menu with Caret browsing checked
Turn on Caret browsing from Internet Options Tools: File menu

screen shot of a webpage with the Caret Browsing dialog box open and the Yes button highlighted in response to the question Do you want to turn Caret Browsing on?
Turn Caret Browsing on and off by pressing F7

Customize Internet Explorer 10 to work with a screen reader or voice recognition software
Internet Explorer 10 has several options you can use to make your screen reader function more effectively. On the Advanced tab under Internet Options, select options under Accessibility, Browsing, and Multimedia. Make one or more of the following changes, then tap or click OK.

Set the cursor to follow the screen focus
If you want your screen reader or Magnifier to use the cursor (also referred to as the insertion point or system caret) to determine where to read or to magnify:

  • Under Accessibility, select the Move system caret with focus/selection changes check box.

Display text in place of pictures

  • Under Accessibility, select the Always expand Alt text for images check box.
  • Under Multimedia, clear the Show pictures check box.

Stop page transitions from causing problems with your screen reader or voice recognition software

  • Under Browsing, clear the Enable page transitions and Use smooth scrolling check boxes.
  • Under Multimedia, clear the Show pictures and Play animations in webpages check boxes.
  • Help prevent webpage sounds from interfering with your screen reader.
  • Under Multimedia, clear the Play sounds in webpages check box.

screen shot of Internet Options: Advanced tab where Accessibility, Browsing, and Multimedia options can be selected
Internet Options: Advanced tab where Accessibility, Browsing, and Multimedia options can be selected

Use Accelerators to perform common tasks
You can select text on a webpage and use add-ons called Accelerators to perform many common tasks, such as mapping a street address or translating text into a different language. You can also choose the web services or websites that Accelerators use to handle different types of tasks.

With Internet Explorer open on the desktop, go to the webpage that contains the text that you want to use with an Accelerator, and then select the text.

  • Click the Acceleratoraccelerator icon button to display a list of default Accelerators.

You can also point to All Accelerators to see a complete list of Accelerators available on your computer.

  • Click an Accelerator, and then do one or both of the following:
    • To see a preview of information or content, point to an Accelerator on the list.
    • To open an Accelerator's web service on a webpage, click the Accelerator on the list.

screen shot of webpage showing the Accelerator button indicating Accelerators are available for the highlighted word “accessibility”
Accelerator button showing Accelerators are available for the highlighted word "accessibility"

screen shot of webpage showing the Accelerators that are available for the highlighted word “accessibility”
Accelerators available for the highlighted word "accessibility"

Pin a website to your Start menu
You can easily access what you use most by pinning your favorite apps, websites, and more to the Start screen. There are several ways to do this.

Apps from the Windows Store are automatically pinned to Start when you install them.

All other apps

Swipe in from the upper right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search. Enter the app name, or scroll until you find it. Swipe down on or right-click the app to select it. Tap or click Pin to Start.

Things you use frequently, like websites and contacts

Open the app or webpage you want to use. Tap or click the Pin button in the taskbar and then tap or click Pin to Start. Enter a name or short description, and then tap or click Pin to Start. The tile is added at the far side of Start.

screen shot of the Pin to Start command on the Pin menu
Screen shot of the Pin to Start command on the Pin menu

Pin a website to your taskbar

You can pin a webpage directly to the taskbar for quick and easy access. With the webpage you want open in Internet Explorer on the desktop, drag its tab to the taskbar and release the mouse button when Pin to Taskbar appears. To unpin the webpage from the taskbar, right-click and select Unpin this program from taskbar. Its icon will disappear when the webpage is closed.

screen shot of the Pin to Taskbar button
Pin to Taskbar button

screen shot of Unpin this program from taskbar button on the Tasks jump list
Unpin this program from taskbar button on the Tasks jump list