Accessibility

Using the Intensive Care Society Website

We hope that you do not have any difficulty using our website. We have given detailed consideration to the design, type sizes and colour contrasts used on the site, to make it easier to read.

Our website has been designed to be accessible to all web users, irrespective of individual abilities and browser types.

We recommend that you view our site with your screen resolution set at 800 x 600 or above. However, if you are having difficulty, there are things you can do. You can change some of the options in your Internet browser, and using the latest version of Firefox or Internet Explorer you will be able to:

• alter the size and colour of most text (but not images);
• alter the background colour (black text on a yellow background gives the most contrast);
• alter the line length, by changing the size and shape of your browser window;
• over-ride the colour schemes of this website and others with your preferred settings.

All the suggestions outlined below will improve the accessibility of web pages on every site you visit. They will not, however, affect images on the screen.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Changing the font

Most of the documents on this site are in a sans serif font (in this case, Arial), rather than a serif font (such as Times New Roman), which should make the text easier to read. However, if you have a preference for a different font:

• on the Tools menu, click Internet Options;
• on the General tab, click Fonts;
• in the Web Page Font list, select the font you would like to use;
• click OK.

Displaying text larger or smaller

• on the View menu, click Text Size;
• select the font size you would like.

Changing text and background colour

Website authors and designers often specify particular fonts, typefaces and background colours for their pages, and the combinations can sometimes make the text difficult to read. You can override these settings by choosing your own preferred, clearer colour scheme - black text on a yellow background gives the most contrast:

• on the Tools menu, click Internet Options;
• on the General tab, click Colors;
• click on the tick box labelled Use Windows Colors (to remove the tick);
• click Text, and select the colour you want and then click OK;
• click Background, and select the colour you want to use and click OK.

To permanently apply the font and colour changes outlined above, you must first:

• on the Tools menu, click Internet Options;
• on the General tab, select Accessibility;
• click the three boxes to show ticks.

To close images on web pages

• on the Tools menu, click Internet Options;
• on the Advanced tab, scroll down to Multimedia;
• click on Show pictures to remove the tick;
• click on Apply, and then click on OK.

To change the size of the window

• on the View Menu, click Full Screen.

There are more options to make websites easier to read, such as removing animation and expanding text. To look at the other options:

• on the Tools menu, click Internet Options;
• select the Advanced tab; and
• choose the options you would like.

Mozilla Firefox

Changing the font

• click on View;
• click Text size;
• use Increase or Decrease to select the font size you prefer or Normal to return to the default size for the website.

Changing text and background colour

• click on Tools;
• click on Options;
• click on Content;
• click the Colors tab;
• click on the tick box labelled Use system colors (to remove the tick);
• click Text, and select the colour you would like to use;
• click Background, and select the colour you would like to use;
• click OK;
• click OK to close Options.

To permanently apply the font and colour changes outlined above, you must first:

• click on Tools;
• click on Options;
• on the Content tab, select Advanced;
• click on the tick box labelled Allow pages to choose their own fonts , instead of my selections above (to remove the tick).