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Making Toolbar Buttons Readable

Tired of trying to figure out what those cute icons are? Why not eliminate the guesswork by adding a text label to each one ? You can even make the icons a little larger while you’re at it. Here’s all you do:

Using the Mouse: Select View | Toolbars | Customize from the menu bar to open the Customize Toolbar dialog box. From the Text options drop down list select Show text labels to add text to each toolbar button. From the Icon options drop down list choose Large icons.  Don’t get your hopes up too much for the size change. It’s more like going  from tiny to small than small to large. But, it’s an improvement nevertheless.

Using the Keyboard: Press Alt, then V, then T, then C to display the Customize Toolbar dialog box. Press Alt+X (remember to hold the Alt key down while pressing the X) to activate the Text options drop down list. Press the Up arrow key to select Show text labels. Now Press Tab or Alt+N (remember to hold the Alt key down while pressing the N) to enable the Icon options drop down list. Press the Down arrow key to select Large icons. Press Enter to save your changes and return to the active page.

Choose Your Own Link Colors

For those of us who find the standard colors used for links on web pages either difficult to make out or aesthetically unpleasing, there’s an alternative - choose your own colors. Here’s how:

Using the Mouse: Select Tools | Internet Options from the menu bar to open the Internet Options dialog box. Click the Colors button located on the bottom left of the General tab to display the Colors dialog box. On the right side of the dialog box, click the color bars next to Visited and Unvisited to display a color palette. Select the colors of your choice. If you also want to select a color for links that you hover your mouse over, check the Use hover color option and select a color by clicking the Hover color bar. Click OK to return to the Internet Options dialog box. Then click OK to return to Internet Explorer.

Using the Keyboard: Press Alt, then T, then O to open the Internet Options dialog box. Next press Alt+O (be sure to hold the Alt key down while pressing the O) to display the Colors dialog box. Press i to open the Visited color palette. Use the arrow keys to move to the desired color. Press the Spacebar to select the desired color. Press Enter to save your color choice and return to the Colors dialog box. Now press N to open the Unvisited color palette. Repeat the previous steps to select a color. Press H to check the Use hover color option and enable the hover color bar. Press O to display the hover color palette. Repeat the previous steps to select a color. Press Enter to save your changes and return to the Internet Options dialog box. Press Enter to return to Internet Explorer. Remember, anytime you change your mind you can press the Esc key to cancel the whole operation.

If you find that web pages are difficult to read due to the size of the displayed text you can do something about it with a couple of mouse clicks or keystrokes. To change the text size follow these instructions:

Using the Mouse: Select View | Text Size from the menu bar to display the submenu of available text sizes, and choose the appropriate size.

Using the Keyboard: Press Alt to activate the menu bar, then press V to display the View menu, and finally press X to display the menu of sizes. To select the size of your choice press the underlined letter in the text size you want to use. For example, to change the size to Largest, press Alt, then V, then X, then G.

If you use a screen reader you may want to turn on the Move system caret with focus/selection changes option, which helps screen readers or magnifiers determine the area of the screen to read or magnify. To turn the option on follow these instructions:

Using the Mouse: Select Tools | Internet Options from the menu bar to open the Internet Options dialog box. Click the Advanced tab to display the list of advanced options. In the Accessibility section, check the Move system caret with focus/selection changes option. Click OK to save the change and return to the active page.
  
Using the Keyboard: Press Alt, then T, then O to open the Internet Options dialog box. Then press Shift+Ctrl+Tab to display the Advanced tab. Use the Down Arrow key to select the Move system caret with focus/selection changes option. Press the Spacebar to check the option. Finally, press Ctrl+Enter to save the changes and return to the active window.

More Aid for Screen Readers and Magnifiers

Another default setting that can interfere with screen readers and magnifiers is the Page Transitions setting. Turning this setting off can sometimes improve screen reader and magnifier performance.

Using the Mouse: Select Tools | Internet Options from the menu bar to open the Internet Options dialog box. Click the Advanced tab to display the list of advanced options. In the Accessibility section, remove the check from the Enable page transitions option. Click OK to save the change and return to the active page.
  
Using the Keyboard: Press Alt , then T, then O to open the Internet Options dialog box. Then press Shift+Ctrl+Tab to display the Advanced tab. Use the Down Arrow key to select the Enable page transition option. Press the Spacebar to remove the checkmark from the option. Finally, press Ctrl+Enter to save the changes and return to the active window.

Keyboard Shortcuts       

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If you have difficulty using the mouse, or just prefer the keyboard you can move from object to object (including links, graphics, image maps) by pressing the Tab key to move to the next item or by pressing Shift+Tab to move to the previous item. The Address Bar is also included in the tabbing cycle.

Once you’ve selected a link you can activate it by pressing the Enter key.

If you don’t automatically or regularly empty your cache of temporary Internet files you may want to periodically refresh a page to insure you’re viewing the most up to date version. This is especially true of pages that change frequently, such as those found on news sites. To refresh your a page using the keyboard, press F5 or Ctrl+R.

If you change your mind about opening a web page you can quickly stop the loading process by pressing the Esc key. It has the same affect as clicking the Stop button on the Standard toolbar.

When you encounter a framed web site you can switch between frames without using your mouse by taking advantage of a couple of keyboard shortcuts. To move forward between frames press F6 or Ctrl+Tab. To move to the previous frame press Shift+F6 or Shift+Ctrl+Tab. The Address Bar is also included in this shortcut cycle.

Not only can you navigate through links without the aid of your mouse, but also through web pages as well. To open your designated Home page press Alt+Home. The actions of the Forward and Back buttons can be replicated using the keyboard. Press Alt+Right Arrow key to move forward. To move back press the Backspace key or the Alt+Left Arrow key.

You can toggle your Favorites bar on an off by pressing Ctrl+I. Use Ctrl+E to open the Search bar, and Ctrl+H to open the History bar.

In addition to displaying the Favorites bar with a keyboard shortcut, you can also add pages to your favorites and organize them using the keyboard. Press Ctrl+D to add the current page to your favorites list. To open the Organize Favorites dialog box press Ctrl+B.

This is a great shortcut for everyone. Pressing Alt+D from anywhere within a web page automatically highlights all the text in the Address bar. Anytime you want to copy the address of the page you’re currently viewing you can press Alt+D to highlight the address and Alt+C to copy it to the Windows Clipboard.

Want a quick and easy way to launch your favorites without having to dig through your Favorites folder each time? It’s easy, just assign a shortcut key to each one. Here’s how:

Using the Mouse: Click the Favorites button on the Standard toolbar to display the Favorites pane. Next, find the link you want to open with a shortcut.  Right-click the link, and select Properties from the pop-up menu to open the Properties dialog box. Next, move the cursor to the Shortcut key field on the Web Document tab. Now press the Ctrl key plus another alpha numeric key to create the shortcut. You’ll notice that as soon as you press the Ctrl key, Ctrl + Alt + appears in the Shortcut key field. This indicates that your shortcut key must use both the Ctrl and the Alt key. The alphanumeric key you add becomes the third element of the shortcut. For example if you press the letter A, the shortcut key becomes Ctrl+Alt+A. Click OK to save the new shortcut and return to Internet Explorer.

Using the Keyboard: Press Ctrl+I to display the Favorites pane. Use the Down Arrow key to move through your Favorites list and locate the link you want to open with a shortcut. If the link is located in a folder on the Favorites list, highlight the folder and press the Right Arrow key to display its contents. After you select the desired link, press Shift+F10 or Ctrl+Shift+F10 (or simply press the Applications key if you have one) to display the shortcut menu. Next, press R to open the Properties dialog box (you can also press the Up Arrow key once and press Enter). Press Alt+K to move the cursor to the Shortcut key field. To create the  shortcut press Ctrl plus any alphanumeric key (that includes letters, numbers, and even punctuation marks). Finally, press Enter to save the new shortcut and return to Internet Explorer.

To use the shortcut key press Ctrl+Alt plus the alphanumeric key you used when creating the shortcut.

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