How to use Magnifier, the built-in magnification feature in Windows 7.You can choose whether you want full-screen magnification or to just magnify part of your screen. Turn on and customise Magnifier Step 1: Use Magnifier now You can start Magnifier at any time by pressing the Windows key and '+' (plus), which is also the shortcut for zooming in. Alternatively, open the 'Ease of Access Center' window by pressing the Windows key + U, followed by 'Control Panel', then 'Ease of Access', then 'Ease of Access Center'. Under the 'Quick access to common tools' header, press Alt + G. This will start the magnifier for current use. Detail from 'Ease of Access Center' window Step 2: Set Magnifier to start every time Follow these steps to make Magnifier start automatically when you log in. Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window as in Step 1. Under the 'Explore all settings' header, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Under the 'Make things on the screen larger' header, tick the box next to 'Turn on Magnifier', or press Alt + N to tick it. press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Detail from 'Ease of Access Center' window Step 3: Change how Magnifier appears on your screen When Magnifier starts, a magnifying glass icon appears on the screen. Click on the magnifying glass icon to open the Magnifier toolbar by pressing the Windows key + T and then using the arrow keys to highlight 'Magnifier' and then pressing the Spacebar. To decrease the magnification, press the Windows key and '-' (minus). To increase the magnification, press the Windows key and '+' (plus). Magnifier features three forms of magnification, which you can choose by press Tab until it is highlighted and then use the arrow keys to select one of these options. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcuts listed below. 'Magnifier' toolbar showing 'Views' drop-down menu press Ctrl + Alt + F, to have the entire screen magnified. However, you may not be able to see the whole screen at one time; press Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar, to see which portion of the screen is being shown. press Ctrl + Alt + L, to have just the area around the mouse pointer magnified. The magnification window will move to follow where you move the mouse. press Ctrl + Alt + D, to have only part of the screen magnified. The magnification window will appear along the top edge of your screen. Note: You need to be using an 'Aero' theme to use Full-screen mode or Lens mode. For instructions on changing your theme, see the How to change the colours in Windows 7 guide. Step 4: Tell Magnifier where to focus In Full-screen and Dock modes, you can set where you want Magnifier to focus. If you are using Lens mode, go to Step 5. press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, to open the 'Magnifier Options' window . To magnify the area where your mouse is pointing, tick the box next to 'Follow the mouse pointer', or press Alt + M to tick it. To magnify the area where the pointer moves when you press the Tab or arrow keys, tick the box next to 'Follow the keyboard focus', or press Alt + K to tick it. To magnify the area in which you are typing, tick the box next to 'Have Magnifier follow the text insertion point', or press Alt + T to tick it. If you want to reverse out the colours in the magnification window, tick the box next to 'Turn on color inversion' by press Alt + I to tick it. When you are finished, press Enter. Step 5: Change the size of the magnifier lens In Lens mode, the focus is always set on where the mouse pointer is on the screen. You can, however, change the size of the magnifier lens. press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, to open the 'Magnifier Options' window . Under the 'Magnifier Lens Size' header, press Tab until the slider you want to adjust is highlighted and then use the arrow keys to change the height and width. You can also do this by pressing Ctrl + Alt + R at any time. If you want to reverse out the colours in the magnification window, tick the box next to 'Turn on color inversion' by press Alt + I to tick it. When you are finished, press Enter. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. Step 6: Keyboard shortcuts in Magnifier The following keyboard shortcuts are available when using Magnifier. Windows key and + (plus) - Zoom in. Windows key and - (minus) - Zoom out. Ctrl + Alt + F - Switch to 'Full-screen' mode. Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar - Preview the desktop in full-screen mode. Ctrl + Alt + L - Switch to 'Lens' mode. Ctrl + Alt + R - Resize the lens. Ctrl + Alt + D - Switch to 'Docked' mode. Ctrl + Alt + I - Invert the colours in the magnification window. Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys - Move the focus in the direction chosen. Windows key + Esc - Exit Magnifier. This page explains step-by-step how to use Magnifier, the built-in magnification feature in Windows Vista. Turn on and customise Magnifier Step 1: Use Magnifier now Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window by pressing the Windows key + U, followed by 'Control Panel', then 'Ease of Access', then 'Ease of Access Center'. Under the 'Quick access to common tools' header, press Alt + G. This will start the magnifier for current use. Step 2: Set Magnifier to start every time Follow these steps to make Magnifier start automatically when you log in. Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window as in Step 1. Under the 'Explore all settings' header, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Under the 'Make things on the screen larger' header, tick the box next to 'Turn on Magnifier', press Alt + N to tick it. press Alt + S, to finish. Step 3: Customise the settings for Magnifier When you start Magnifier, the 'Magnifier' window , allowing you to customise the settings. If you don't want to change the settings, you can minimise this window by or press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. If you don't want the settings window to appear each time you start Magnifier, tick the box next to 'Minimize on Startup' by press Alt + N to tick it. Step 4: Tell Magnifier where to focus Under the 'Tracking' header, you can set where you want Magnifier to focus. To magnify the area where your mouse is pointing, tick the box next to 'Follow mouse cursor', or press Alt + M to tick it. To magnify the area where the pointer moves when you press the Tab or arrow keys, tick the box next to 'Follow keyboard focus', or press Alt + K to tick it. To magnify the area in which you are typing, tick the box next to 'Follow text editing', or press Alt + T to tick it. Step 5: Change how Magnifier appears on your screen To increase the magnification, press Tab until the drop-down button is highlighted and then use the arrow keys to scroll through to the magnification you want. If you want to reverse out the colours in the magnification window, tick the box next to 'Invert colors' by press Alt + I to tick it. To change the position of the magnification window, tick the box next to 'Docked' by press Alt + D to tick it. You can select the position of the magnification window by press Tab until the drop-down button is highlighted and then use the arrow keys to make your selection. When you are finished, minimise the settings window by press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. How to make your computer speak text aloud in Mac Turn on and customise VoiceOver Step 1: Open the 'Universal Access' window Make sure you are in 'Finder'. If necessary, press Apple + Tab to cycle through the open applications until you return to 'Finder'. press Ctrl + F2. press the down arrow key to highlight it and then press Enter. In the 'System Preferences' window , press Tab repeatedly (you might need to press Ctrl + F7 first) to cycle through the icons until the 'Universal Access' icon is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. Step 2: Turn on VoiceOver In the 'Universal Access' window , make sure the 'Seeing' tab is selected. If it is not, press Ctrl + F7 to highlight one of the tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select it. Under the 'VoiceOver' header, press Tab until the 'Off' radio button is highlighted and then press the left arrow key to select 'On'. You can also turn VoiceOver on or off at any time by pressing Apple + F5. Step 3: Customise the settings for VoiceOver To change the VoiceOver settings, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. In the 'VoiceOver Utility' window,, you can customise the settings in nine categories, which appear in the left-hand pane. To select a category, press Apple and the number it is in the list. For example, for 'General' press Apple + 1 and for 'Braille' press Apple + 9. For a detailed guide to all of the VoiceOver settings options, see Apple's VoiceOver pages. press Apple + W to finish. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Step 4: Braille support in VoiceOver VoiceOver includes braille support. VoiceOver automatically recognises the model in use and programmes the keys - including 'wiz wheels', scrollers, router keys and buttons - to best suit each model's characteristics. If you don't have a USB braille display, you can use the on-screen visual braille panel that is included with VoiceOver. The braille panel behaves like a standard 40-cell display. It shows both the braille dots being sent to the dedicated braille display and an English translation, so sighted instructors, parents or co-workers can read its contents with minimal disturbance to the non-sighted user. Back to top Turn on and customise Speech (OS 10.4 & later) Step 1: Open the 'Speech' window Make sure you are in 'Finder'. If necessary, press Apple + Tab to cycle through the open applications until you return to 'Finder'. press Ctrl + F2. press the down arrow key to highlight it and then press Enter. In the 'System Preferences' window , press Tab repeatedly (you might need to press Ctrl + F7 first) to cycle through the icons until the 'Speech' icon is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. Step 2: Set up the voice in Speech In the 'Speech' window, make sure the 'Text to Speech' tab is selected. If it is not, press Ctrl + F7 to highlight one of the tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select it. press Tab until the drop-down button is highlighted and then use the up and down arrow keys to select a voice. To hear the voice you have chosen, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. To speed up or slow down the voice, press Tab until it is highlighted and then use the left and right arrow keys to adjust the speed. Step 3: Customise the spoken alerts To set it so the alert speech for dialogue boxes starts with a phrase, tick the box next to 'Announce when alerts are displayed' by press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar to tick it. press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, to open the pop-up window . press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, to see a list of available phrases. use the up and down arrow keys to select a phrase. (You can edit the list of phrases and add your own by choosing 'Edit Phrase List'). To adjust how long the computer waits before speaking, press Tab until it is highlighted and then use the left and right arrow keys to select the delay (in seconds). To have the computer speak the dialogue immediately, select a value of 0. press Enter to return to the 'Speech' window . To have the computer read any text that you have highlighted on your screen, tick the box next to 'Speak selected text when the key is pressed' by press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar to tick it. Click the 'Set Key' button, or press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, and then enter a combination of keys that you can easily remember in the dialogue box. Click on the 'OK' button or press Enter. When you are happy with your settings, press Apple + W to finish. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. Back to top Turn on and customise Speech (OS 10.3 & earlier) Step 1: Open the 'Speech' window Make sure you are in 'Finder'. If necessary, press Apple + Tab to cycle through the open applications until you return to 'Finder'. press Ctrl + F2. press the down arrow key to highlight it and then press Enter. In the 'System Preferences' window , press Tab repeatedly (you might need to press Ctrl + F7 first) to cycle through the icons until the 'Speech' icon is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. Step 2: Set up the voice in Speech In the 'Speech' window, make sure the 'Default Voice' tab is selected, If it is not, press Ctrl + F7 to highlight one of the tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select it. Under the 'Voice' header, press Tab until the list is highlighted and then use the up and down arrow keys to select a voice. To hear the voice you have chosen, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. To speed up or slow down the voice, press Tab until it is highlighted and then use the left and right arrow keys to adjust the speed. Step 3: Customise the spoken alerts press Ctrl + F7 to highlight one of the tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select it. To have your computer speak the text in dialogue boxes, tick the box next to 'Speak the alert text' by press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar to tick it. To adjust how long the computer waits before speaking, press Tab until it is highlighted and then use the left and right arrow keys to select the delay (in seconds). To have the computer speak the dialogue immediately, select a value of 0. To set it so the alert speech starts with a phrase, tick the box next to 'Speak the phrase' by press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar to tick it. press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, to see a list of available phrases. use the up and down arrow keys to select a phrase. (You can edit the list of phrases and add your own by choosing 'Edit phrase list'). Under the 'Other spoken items' header, turn on any additional options you want by ticking the boxes. For example, to read any text under the mouse pointer, tick the box next to 'Text under the mouse' by clicking on it, or press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar to tick it. When you are happy with your settings, press Apple + W to finish. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. How to make your computer speak text aloud in Windows Vista Turn on and customise Narrator Step 1: Use Narrator now Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window by pressing the Windows key + U, followed by 'Control Panel', then 'Ease of Access', then 'Ease of Access Center'. Under the 'Quick access to common tools' header, press Alt + N. This will start Narrator for current use. Step 2: Set Narrator to start every time Follow these steps to make Narrator start automatically when you log in. Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window as in Step 1. Under the 'Explore all settings' header,press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Under the 'Have text read aloud' header, tick the box next to 'Turn on Narrator', or press Alt + U to tick it. press Alt + S. Detail from 'Use the computer without a display' window Step 3: Tell Narrator what to read Once you have turned on Narrator, you can select which things Narrator will read aloud. If you want text to be read aloud as you type, tick the box next to 'Echo User's Keystrokes' bypress Alt + K to tick it. If you want to have system messages read aloud, tick the box next to 'Announce System Messages' press Alt + M to tick it. If you want to hear screen scrolls, tick the box next to 'Announce Scroll Notifications' press Alt + N to tick it. If you want the settings box minimised at start-up, tick the box next to 'Start Narrator Minimized' by press Alt + Z to tick it. When you are finished, minimise the settings window by press Alt + Spacebar and then press N. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. How to make your computer speak text aloud in Windows XP Turn on and customise Narrator Step 1: Turn on Narrator Open the 'Start' menu by pressing the Windows key or Ctrl + Esc. press P until 'All Programs' is selected and then press Enter. In the same manner, press A, then 'Accessibility' (or press A) and finally 'Narrator' (or press N). The 'Microsoft Narrator' dialogue box will appear. Narrator immediately starts talking and reads out the instructions on how to use this feature.Press Enter. 'Microsoft Narrator' dialogue box Step 2: Customise the settings for Narrator Once you have turned on Narrator, you can select which things Narrator will read aloud and customise other options. 'Narrator' window Tick the box next to each of the options that you want to turn on by ,press Tab until the option is highlighted and then press the Spacebar to tick it. You can adjust the voice settings by pressing V. When you are finished, minimise the settings window by ,press Alt + Spacebar and then press N. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. This page explains step-by-step how to use Zoom, the built-in magnification feature in Mac OS X. Turn on and customise Zoom Step 1: Open the 'Universal Access' window Make sure you are in 'Finder'. If necessary, press Apple + Tab to cycle through the open applications until you return to 'Finder'. press Ctrl + F2. press the down arrow key to highlight it and then press Enter. In the 'System Preferences' window ,press Tab repeatedly (you might need to press Ctrl + F7 first) to cycle through the icons until the 'Universal Access' icon is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. Step 2: Turn on and use Zoom In the 'Universal Access' window , make sure the 'Seeing' tab is selected. If it is not, press Ctrl + F7 to highlight one of the tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select it. Under the 'Zoom' header, press Tab until the 'Off' radio button is highlighted and then press the left arrow key to select 'On'. You can also turn Zoom on or off at any time by pressing Alt + Apple + 8. To zoom in at any time, press Alt + Apple and '=' (equal sign). The 'preview rectangle' (shows the area of the screen that you will see at maximum zoom. To zoom back out, press Alt + Apple and '-' (minus). Note: In older versions of Mac OS X, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar. You can also turn Zoom on or off at any time by pressing Alt + Apple + '*' (asterisk). Note also that the shortcut to zoom in is Alt + Apple and '+' (plus). Step 3: Customise the settings for Zoom press Tab until it is highlighted and then press the Spacebar, to open the 'Zoom Options' window. press Tab (you might need to press Ctrl + F7 first) to highlight the slider and then use the left and right arrow keys to set the maximum magnification level. In the same manner, set the 'Minimum Zoom' slider to the minimum magnification level you want for Zoom. When you are happy with your settings, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter, to return to the 'Universal Access' window. press Apple + W to finish. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. How to make your computer speak text aloud in Windows 7 This page explains step-by-step how to use Narrator, the built-in speech function in Windows 7. Turn on and customise Narrator Step 1: Use Narrator now Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window by pressing the Windows key + U, followed by 'Control Panel', then 'Ease of Access', then 'Ease of Access Center'. Under the 'Quick access to common tools' header,press Alt + N. This will start Narrator for current use. Detail from 'Ease of Access Center' window Step 2: Set Narrator to start every time Follow these steps to make Narrator start automatically when you log in. Open the 'Ease of Access Center' window as in Step 1. Under the 'Explore all settings' header, press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Under the 'Have text read aloud' header, press Alt + U to tick it. Detail from 'Use the computer without a display' window press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter. Step 3: Tell Narrator what to read Once you have turned on Narrator, you can select which things Narrator will read aloud If you want text to be read aloud as you type, tick the box next to 'Echo User's Keystrokes', or press Alt + K to tick it. If you want to have system messages read aloud, tick the box next to 'Announce System Messages',press Alt + M to tick it. If you want to hear screen scrolls, tick the box next to 'Announce Scroll Notifications', press Alt + N to tick it. If you want the settings box minimised at start-up, tick the box next to 'Start Narrator Minimized' , press Alt + Z to tick it. When you are finished, minimise the settings window by press Alt + Spacebar and then press N. Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help. Step 4: Keyboard shortcuts in Narrator To read text from a screen, use the following shortcuts when Narrator is running. Insert + F3 - Read the current character. Insert + F4 - Read the current word. Insert + F5 - Read the current line. Insert + F6 - Read the current paragraph. Insert + F7 - Read the current page. Insert + F8 - Read the current document. his page explains step-by-step how to use Magnifier, the built-in magnification feature in Windows XP. It is, however, restricted to a small portion of the screen, so most vision-impaired people will find that they require fully-functional magnification software. Turn on and customise Magnifier Step 1: Turn on Magnifier Open the 'Start' menu by pressing the Windows key or Ctrl + Esc. press P until 'All Programs' is selected and then press Enter. In the same manner, press A, then 'Accessibility' (or press A) and finally 'Magnifier' (or press M). Step 2: Customise the settings for Magnifier When you start Magnifier, the 'Magnifier Settings' window appears, allowing you to customise the settings. If you don't want to change the settings, you can minimise this window by clicking on the 'Minimize' button on the title bar, or press Enter. If you don't want the settings window to appear each time you start Magnifier, tick the box next to 'Start Minimized' by press Alt + S to tick it. To increase the magnification, press Alt + L and then use the arrow keys to scroll through to the magnification you want. If you want to reverse out the colours in the magnification window, tick the box next to 'Invert colors', press Alt + I to tick it. Step 3: Tell Magnifier where to focus Under the 'Tracking' header, you can set where you want Magnifier to focus. To magnify the area where your mouse is pointing, tick the box next to 'Follow mouse cursor', or press Alt + M to tick it. To magnify the area where the pointer moves when you press the Tab or arrow keys, tick the box next to 'Follow keyboard focus', or press Alt + K to tick it. To magnify the area in which you are typing, tick the box next to 'Follow text editing', or press Alt + T to tick it. When you are finished, minimise the settings window by press Enter. Step 4: Change the size or position of the Magnifier window To move the Magnifier window, click anywhere on the window and drag it to where you want it. To resize the Magnifier window, click on an edge or corner of the window and drag it until it is the size you want. There are no keyboard shortcuts to do this.