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Options to improve accessibility

This website should be easy to use for as many people as possible. Information should be clear, simple to understand, and easy to access on the device you’re using. This includes assistive technologies like screen readers and voice control software.

You should also be able to adapt our content to meet your needs. This means being able to do things like:

  • listen to information
  • increase text and page size
  • view pages with different levels of contrast
  • translate pages into sign language
  • translate pages into other languages
  • navigate pages using your voice
  • report an accessibility issue

If you don’t have access to paid assistive technology, we have listed some free options you can use instead.

Explore accessibility settings

Most devices already include some assistive technology. Look for accessibility settings within your device to see your available options.

Find accessibility settings:

  • Windows: Start > Settings > Ease of Access
  • Apple Mac macOS: System Preferences > Accessibility
  • iPhone iOS: Settings > General > Accessibility
  • Android: Settings > Accessibility

If you need to hear information

You can use free built-in screen readers and text-to-speech software to hear information. Here are some of the most popular options available on different devices.

Hear information on Windows devices

NVDA screen reader

NVDA is one of the most popular screen readers available. It's free but only available on devices using Microsoft Windows. It shares most of the same features as the most popular paid alternatives.

Find out more about NVDA screen reader features and download

Windows Narrator

Windows Narrator is the screen reader for people using a Windows device. It comes already installed with Windows version 10 and later.

To find out more, go to Microsoft’s complete guide to Windows Narrator

Hear information on Apple devices

VoiceOver is Apple’s built-in screen reader on all their devices. Apple also has its Speak Screen feature, available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. They both read text aloud. But VoiceOver also helps people with no vision to navigate pages more easily.

Find out more about VoiceOver and Speak Screen on Apple’s vision accessibility page

Hear information on Android mobile devices

Android TalkBack

TalkBack is the Google screen reader included on Android mobile devices. 

Find out more about TalkBack on Google’s page to get started on Android TalkBack

Hear information using your browser

Edge Read Aloud browser

The Edge browser has built-in text-to-speech functionality. Select the Read Aloud symbol in the browser’s search bar to hear the web page read aloud.

An arrow pointing at the read aloud symbol within the search bar of the Edge browser.

Read&Write browser extension

Browser extensions are like apps that allow you to add extra features to web browsers. Browser extensions are also sometimes called add-ons.
Read&Write is a free extension designed to help people with a wide range of vision impairments. Its features include text-to-speech and audio downloads of web page text.

Read&Write is available on the following browsers and devices:

Read&Write is one of many popular extensions available, so it’s worth searching for the one that works best for you.

If you need information in a larger size

Zoom web pages in and out

  • On Windows use the keyboard shortcut Control—Plus sign and Control—Minus sign
  • On Mac use the keyboard shortcut Command—Plus sign and Command—Minus sign
  • On a smartphone or tablet use the pinch to zoom finger gesture to make the page larger and smaller

Change the font size

Find out how to change:

Use a screen magnifier

Your device may have a built-in magnifier to make part of your screen easier to see. Check the accessibility settings in your device for your available options.

For more information on how to turn on magnification, go to:

If you need to change colour contrast

You can make information easier to see by changing the amount of colour contrast on the screen.

Find out how to change:

If you need information in British sign language

Contact us using SignVideo to get information in British sign language. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is free to use.

Call us now on SignVideo

You can also download the SignVideo app to your mobile device. Download SignVideo app

If you have any technical issues using SignVideo, visit SignVideo’s contact page for help

If you need information in a different language

Browsers like Chrome and Safari can translate pages into over 100 languages. You can also use the Read&Write browser extension which has a built-in translator.

Find out more on how to Change Chrome languages and translate web pages

Find out more on how to Translate a web page in Safari on Mac

Find out how to download Read&Write

If you need to use voice control

You can use free voice control tools to interact with the site. You can give voice commands to:

  • navigate the website
  • fill in forms
  • follow links
  • operate the mouse cursor
  • perform keyboard shortcuts

Find out how to set up Windows Speech Recognition

Find out how to turn on Voice Control on Mac

Request information in different formats

The fastest way to get information in different formats is to use one of the suggestions on this page. If none of these options work, contact the service directly to ask for information in the format you need. For example, braille, easy read, or more accessible PDFs. 

Let us know:

  • the page URL of the information you need
  • the format you need the information in

Report an accessibility issue

Let us know:

  • the URL of the web page with the issue
  • the issue we need to fix
  • what you expected
Report an accessibility issue

Accessibility statement

Our accessibility statement explains what we’re doing to make this website as accessible as possible.