Changing how your screen looks
Here is some practical help with adjusting the settings to make your screen easier to read. Our suggestions to improve how you can view web pages on nidirect.gov.uk should also work for other websites that you visit.
Making text bigger on a PC or laptop
Windows
- press Ctrl and + to make text bigger
- press Ctrl and - to make text smaller
- press Ctrl and 0 (zero) to return text to normal size
Apple Mac
On Apple computers, use the Cmd (or Apple) key instead of the Ctrl key:
- press Cmd and + to make text bigger
- press Cmd and - to make text smaller
- press Cmd and 0 (zero) to return text to normal size
Making text bigger on phones and tablets
Many touch screen based devices allow you to pinch and zoom web pages by touching the screen with two fingers and pinching them closed to zoom out or spreading them apart to zoom in.
However, this method may not work for all web pages. Alternatively, you can enable 'magnification gestures' on Android based devices or 'zoom gestures' on Apple iPhones or iPads.
For Android based phones and tablets
- open your device's Settings app
- select 'Accessibility', then 'Magnification', then 'Magnify with triple-tap' and switch it on
- triple-tap with three fingers to magnify the entire screen
- to move around, hold two fingers on the screen and drag to show different parts of the screen
- if you need need to zoom in more, use pinch to zoom
- triple-tap with three fingers again to return to normal magnification
For Apple iPhones or iPads
- open the Settings app
- select 'General', then 'Accessibility', then 'Zoom' and switch it on
- double-tap with three fingers to zoom the entire screen
- to move around, either hold three fingers on the screen and drag to show different parts of the screen, or hold one finger along the edge of the screen to pan
- if you need to zoom in more, double-tap with three fingers and drag up or down
- to zoom back out, double-tap again with three fingers
You can also configure the 'home button' to turn on zoom when you triple-press it.
More advanced changes
As well as making text larger, web browsers may offer additional ways to change fonts, text colour and background colours to make reading on a screen easier.
Further information on accessibility features for popular web browsers are listed below.
Which browser are you using?
- Google Chrome — see Accessibility in Chrome
- Safari — see Accessibility Support for Apple devices
- Internet Explorer — see Internet Explorer Ease of Access options
- Microsoft Edge — see Ease of Access in Microsoft Edge
- Firefox — see Accessibility features in Firefox