Changing browser settings

This page provides guidance on how to change your browser settings on a desktop computer. If you are a mobile user, the Scope website has a great guide on how to change the settings on your device to make them more accessible.

If you are having difficulties viewing our pages, most browsers allow users to change the settings to alter the way pages are displayed, which may improve readability.

Most browsers allow you to:

Ignore settings specified by a web page
Change the text size, style and colour
Change the background colour
Hide images

To change your settings, please click on one of the following browser types for a step by step guide:

Internet Explorer
Opera
Firefox
Safari
Google Chrome

Internet Explorer

How do I ignore the font / colour settings specified?
How do I change the colours of the text and background?
How do I change the font style?
How do I change the font size?
How do I hide images?

How do I ignore the font / colour settings specified?

From the browser menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'
Click on the 'Accessibility' option, which can be found under the 'General' tab.
You will see the following options

Ignore colours specified on web pages
Ignore font styles specified on web pages
Ignore font sizes specified on web pages

Tick the options that are appropriate to you. Click 'OK'
Click 'OK' again to close the 'Internet Options' box

How do I change the colours of the text and background?

From the browser menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'
Click on the 'Colours' option, which can be found under the 'General' tab
Untick the 'Use windows colours' option
Select your own text and background colours (black text on a yellow background provides the most contrast)
To change the colours of visited and unvisited links, click on the colours and select your preferred colour from the palette that appears
Click 'OK'
Click 'OK' again to close the 'Internet Options' box

How do I change the font style?

From the browser menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'
Click on the 'Accessibility' option, which can be found under the 'General' tab
Tick the 'Ignore font styles specified on web pages' option
Click 'OK'
Back at the 'General' tab, click 'Fonts'
From this screen you can change the way your pages display 'web page font' and 'plain text font.' Once you have chosen your required settings, click 'OK'
Click 'OK' again to close the 'Internet Options' box

How do I change the font size?

Click on 'Tools', choose 'Zoom' and select the appropriate zoom level. Alternatively, press Ctrl + or Ctrl - on your keyboard to adjust the zoom level.

How do I hide images?

This allows you to only view text and the page will load much faster

From the main menu, go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Internet Options'
Go to the 'Advanced' tab
Scroll down the settings until you reach 'Multimedia'
Untick the 'Show pictures' option
Click 'OK' to close the 'Internet Options' box

Opera

How do I ignore the font / colour settings specified?

From the main menu, go to the 'File' menu and select 'Preferences'
Select 'Page style'
Under the 'Author mode' option, untick the boxes next to 'Page style sheet' and 'Page fonts and colours'
Click 'OK to close the 'Preferences' box

How do I change the colours of the text and background?

From the main menu, go to the 'File' menu and select 'Preferences'
Select 'Fonts and colours'
Highlight the font type you would like to change, e.g. 'Normal' or 'Heading 1'
Click the 'Choose' button to the right. This will bring up a 'Font' box where you can change the font, font style and font size. Choose the settings that are suitable for you
Click 'OK' to close the 'Font' box
Back at the 'Fonts and colours' options, click on the box to the right of Background colour' and select your preferred colour from the palette that appears
To change colours of visited and not visited links, at 'Link style' click on the 'My link style' box to the right
The 'Links style' box will appear. Click on the colours and select your preferred colour from the palette that appears
Click 'OK' to close the 'Link style' box
Select 'Page style'
Under the 'Author mode' option, untick the boxes next to 'Page style sheet' and 'Page fonts and colours'
Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' box

How do I change the font style?

From the main menu, go to the 'File' menu and select 'Preferences'
Select 'Fonts and colours'
Highlight the font type you would like to change, e.g. 'Normal' or 'Heading 1'
Click the 'Choose' button to the right. This will bring up a 'Font' box where you can change the font, font style and size of the font. Choose the settings that are suitable for you
Click 'OK' to close the 'Font' box
To use these fonts when you visit all websites in future select 'Page style' (under 'Fonts and colours')
Under the 'Author mode' option, untick the boxes next to 'Page style sheet' and 'Page fonts and colours.' Tick the box next to 'My fonts and colours'
Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' box

How do I change the font size?

You can choose to zoom the contents of a page (text and images) from 20% - 1000%

From the main menu, go to 'View' and select 'Zoom'
Select the magnification of the page that is most suitable for you.

How do I hide images?

This allows you to only view text and the page will load much faster

From the main menu, go to the 'File' menu and select 'Preferences'
Select 'Multimedia'
Next to Images you will see a drop-down menu. Click on the arrow to expand the menu and select 'Show no images'
Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' box

Firefox

How do I ignore the font / colour settings specified?

From the main menu, select 'View'.
Select 'Page Style' from the menu.
Here you can turn off the font and colour settings applied to NHS Choices.

How do I change the colours of the text and background?

From the main menu, select Tools.
Select Options.
From the list of options, select 'Content'.
In the 'Fonts & Colours' section, click the 'Colours...' button.
Here you can change the background and text colours.

How do I change the font style and font size?

From the main menu, select Tools.
Select Options.
From the list of options, select 'Content'.
In the 'Fonts & Colours' section, you can choose a different 'Default font' and choose an alternative 'Size' to suit your needs.

How do I hide images?

From the main menu, select Tools.
Select Options.
From the list of options, select 'Content'.
In the list of settings available, untick the 'Load images automatically' check box.

Safari

How can I ensure the text is displayed to a certain size?

From the main menu, select 'Edit'.
Select ‘Preferences’ from the menu.
Click Advanced.
Select the checkbox to never use fonts smaller than the selected size.
Choose a font size from the pop-up menu.

How do I change the font size?

From the main menu, select 'Edit'.
Select ‘Preferences’ from the menu.
From the list of options, select 'Appearance'.
You can ‘Select’ a different 'Default font' and choose an alternative 'Size' to suit your needs.

How do I hide images?

From the main menu, select 'Edit'.
Select ‘Preferences’ from the menu.
From the list of options, select 'Appearance'.
Untick the ‘Display images when the page opens' check box.

Google Chrome

How do I change the font style and font size?

Click the 'Customise' button then 'Settings'.
At the bottom of the ‘Settings‘ page, click on ‘Advanced settings’.
Scroll down to 'Web Content' where you can choose a different default font and set an alternative text size to suit your needs.

How do I hide images?

From the main menu, click ’Options’.
At the bottom of the ‘Settings‘ page, click on ‘Advanced settings’.
Under 'Privacy', click on 'Content settings...'
In the list of settings available, select the ‘Do not show any images’