Changing how your screen looks

Here is some practical help with adjusting the settings to make your screen easier to read. The 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

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