Accessibility
Browser Accessibility Features
Most browsers have built in accessibility features such as the ability to increase the magnification of fonts, change the colour of the text and to turn off images and style-sheets. For full details, visit the accessibility websites of popular web-browser developers:
Microsoft
Apple
Linux - KDE or Gnome
Mozilla Firefox
Increasing text size
Some users might find screen text easier to read by increasing the size at which text is displayed. To do this, simply adjust your browser's settings:
Microsoft Internet Explorer: go to the View menu, select Text Size and then either Larger or Largest.
Netscape Navigator: go to the View menu and choose Increase Font until the text is the size you desire.
Mozilla Firefox: go to the View menu, select Text Size and then select Increase. The same effect can be achieved by using the keyboard shortcut keys; Ctrl and + (at the same time).
Changing background colour
Many browsers provide functionality to adjust the background colour of the page or the colour of text:
Mozilla Firefox: go to the options menu (Tools > Options), in the General tab, click Fonts & Colours.
Documents in alternative formats
We can provide publications in alternative formats, for example braille, large print or audio. If you would like this document in a different format, please contact our Customer Services department:
Telephone: 0870 333 1181
Fax: 01793 414926
Textphone: 01793 414878
E-mail: customers@english-heritage.org.uk
Adobe Acrobat support
The Disability Equality Scheme adopted by English Heritage in 2008 stipulates that reasonable adjustments have to be made to ensure that electronic publications made available on any of our websites are accessible. The Electronic Publications Working Group recommends that the minimum level of accessibility for an electronic publication should be:
- That it is a tagged PDF, with the reading order reviewed and retouched where necessary.
- All images in the document should either have a caption, or Alt text (the text that comes up on the screen after you move your mouse over an image), describing what the image is.
- In addition to this, all documents should carry the following tag line:
If you would like this document in a different format, please contact our Customer Services department:
Telephone: 0870 333 1181
Fax: 01793 414926
Textphone: 01793 414878
E-mail: customers@english-heritage.org.uk
However, you may come across earlier versions of PDF files (created before 2008) on our site which are not so accessible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader version 6 and above has incorporated accessibility features into standard readers. For example, users can hear a PDF document read aloud, or scroll a PDF document automatically. The read aloud feature can also translate the document into a range of European languages. You can access these features in the Edit Preferences menu.
If you use screen reader software (for example an audio-enabled web browser) which is not compatible with Adobe Reader, Adobe provide a free online tool which converts the content of PDF files to a format which can be understood by most screen reader applications.
You can configure your web browser to open PDF files, either within the browser window or in a separate Adobe Acrobat window. There are detailed instructions on the Acrobat website on how to do so for different browsers.
Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader is by far the most popular PDF viewer but there are several other viewers available for download that will allow you to view and print PDF documents on a variety of platforms and systems. The following sites may help:
