Making the Internet Accessible to All People

ShopWithTrust.com is devoted to creating a user friendly Web Site

We would like to thank everyone who encourage, provide resources, and develop web sites that are user friendly and developed to be accessible to as many people as possible. Of particular note, we would like to thank SitePoint.com and WebAim.org for their efforts that heavily influence the development of our ShopWithTrust.com web site.

ShopWithTrust.com has developed its web site to the specifications represented by the three logos shown on the bottom right-hand side of this web page - XHTML 1.0 Strict, CSS, and RSS. These specifications go a long way to help ensure a web site is accessible to everyone who wishes to explore the internet.

You may notice, as you surf the internet, that some web sites do not appear to work properly. They might be very slow , the text might be too small to read, you might find it difficult to scroll to read all the parts of a web page, and sometimes they might not work at all. This often occurs because the web site was not developed to work with your computer, your software, or even your needs.

Our goal is to make this web site work whether you use a computer with software based on Microsoft, Apple, or some other program. We want our web site to work whether you use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or Opera internet browsers. If you use a cell phone or PDA, we want our web site to work for you. If you need larger text or use an audio screen reader, we want our web site to work for you. If you are color-blind, we want to you to able to see everything on our web site. Whether you use a screen resolution of 800*600 or 1280*1024 , we want our web site to work for you.

If you find something on our web site that does not appear to work, we would greatly appreciate it if you would let us know. Thank you.

Accessibility Resources

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative web site provides many resources to help people who have challenges using standard internet browsing software. These resources include audio screen readers such as Jaws for Windows, which is what we use to help ensure an accessible web site. There is a free trial version available to home users. The W3C site also provides links to articles on how to use features that are built into standard web browser software for improving accessibility. Probably the most popular feature available in web browsers is the setting to increase text size of words you read on the internet. We provide an explanation for this in the next section called 'Increasing Text Size'.

Microsoft provides a valuable resource explaining the accessibility features that are availabe in its products. For Mac users, Apple also provides a similar resource.

Increasing Text Size

If you have been following through all of our lessons in the Internet for Beginners tutorial, you will know we have provided a feature that allows you to increase the size of text on our web site pages. (If you missed this lesson, visit our article on using Javascripts.) However, this feature will not work once you leave our web site. You will find a few web sites provide a similar feature but most do not. There are three simple methods for increasing the size of the text you read on the internet so that it will apply to all web sites:

1. Change the Text-Size setting in your Internet Browser: Follow these directions for the internet browser software you are using. For each of them, we refer to the menu bar screens you need to access to change the setting.
   1. Internet Explorer: Select 'View', then 'Text Size', then 'Larger' or 'Largest'. The text size will remain at this setting until you select a different setting.
   2. Firefox: Select 'View', then 'Text Size', then 'Increase'. You can do this multiple times to continually increase the size of the text. However, when you close Firefox, the settings return text to the default size the next time you open the program.
   3. Safari: Select 'View', then 'Make Text Size Bigger'. You can do this multiple times to continually increase the size of the text. However, when you close Safari, the settings return text to the default size the next time you open the program.
   4. Opera: Select 'View', then 'Zoom', then select the appropriate 'x%' that works for you. The text size will remain at this setting until you select a different setting.
2. Change the Screen Resolution of your Computer: You can change the default setting on your computer so everything appears bigger (or smaller) for you. This includes documents and images on your computer as well as on the internet. Follow these directions for the type of operating system software you have on your computer. For most of you, it will be Microsoft's Windows, unless you have purchased a computer in 2007 or later. Many of the newer computers come with Microsoft's Vista.
   1. Windows: Clear the documents from your screen so you can see the background picture (desktop). The desktop is what you first see when you turn on your computer and no programs are opened.
      1. Right Click on the background picture and a menu will pop-up.
      2. Select 'Properties' to open up a small screen called 'Display Properties'.
      3. Select the 'Settings' tab which you will see towards the right side of the small screen.
      4. Near the bottom left side, you will see an arrow under the heading called 'Screen Resolution'. Move this arrow towards 'Less' to make images and text bigger and towards 'More' to make them smaller.
      5. Finish by selecting 'Apply'. You computer screen will turn black momentarily as it adjusts the settings. When the screen returns, you can decide whether you want to stay with the new setting or change it again.
      6. This setting will remain in effect until you change it again.
   2. Vista: Open the 'Ease of Access Center' by either holding down the Windows-Start key and pressing the 'U' key or select the 'Windows-Start' button on the bottom left hand side of your screen, select 'Control Panel', and then select 'Ease of Access Center'.
      1. Select 'Make this computer easier to see'. (It is about halfway down the page.)
      2. Select 'Personalize appearance and sound effects'. (This is at the bottom of the page.)
      3. Select 'Display Settings'. (This is at the bottom of the page.)
      4. Near the bottom left side, you will see an arrow under the heading called 'Resolution'. Move this arrow towards 'Low' to make images and text bigger and towards 'High' to make them smaller.
      5. Finish by selecting 'Apply'. You computer screen will turn black momentarily as it adjusts the settings. When the screen returns, you can decide whether you want to stay with the new setting or change it again.
      6. This setting will remain in effect until you change it again.
   3. Mac: Apple provides an easy-to-understand article for adjusting resolution on Mac computers.
3. Use 'Ctrl +': We do not recommend this method of holding down the 'Ctrl' key (near the bottom left of your keyboard) and pressing the '+' key. The prior two methods are preferred because they properly fit the left and right sides of your web page so you do not need to scroll from left to right in order to see the full web page. You already scroll up-and-down to view the content of a web page. There is no need to add side-to-side movement and increase the challenge of viewing a web page. We point out this method because you may come across this suggestion elsewhere. We only suggest this method if you need to quickly, and temporarily, view one section of a web page. You can press 'Ctrl +' multiple times to continue increasing the size of the page. You can then use 'Ctrl -' to return to the original size.

Cell Phone Accessibility: Our web site can be browsed on cell phone and PDA type devices. Unfortunately, retail store web sites are very difficult to view on these devices. When retailers adjust their web designs to allow for shopping from your cell phone or PDA, we will create a new 'Shopping Directory' tab and add those stores to that web page as they become accessibile.

Congratulations to those who have completed the - 'Internet Help for Beginners' tutorial!

That ends this lesson on improving Web Accessibility, the last of our 12 lessons for beginners. Congratulations! We recommend you focus on becoming comfortable with the concepts taught in these 12 lessons before taking on more advanced tutorials. These concepts provide the basics you need to start enjoying the fascinating world of the internet. Don't forget, you can always come back to these articles by selecting 'Advice Articles for Beginners' near the top of the right column on any of our web pages. Once you feel comfortable, we recommend you take the following tutorials: Internet Security for Beginners and Email for Beginners. Good Luck!

• Lesson 1: Computer Mouse - How to use it and when to push the buttons
• Lesson 2: Hyperlinks - How to open a new web page
• Lesson 3: Back Button - How to return to the previous web page
• Lesson 4: Windows - How to manage windows on your screen
• Lesson 5: Web Browser - What are Internet Explorer, Firefox & Safari?
• Lesson 6: Address Bar - How to enter a web address
• Lesson 7: Web Page vs. Web Site - Learn the difference between the two
• Lesson 8: Menu Bar - Access to everything you need
• Lesson 9: Bookmark Favorites - Save your favorite web sites
• Lesson 10: Drop-Down-Lists - How to make selections on web sites
• Lesson 11: Javascript - Why some web sites do not work for you
• Current : Web-Accessibility - Problems reading web sites

Help Others & Good Luck

Our goal is to make you comfortable using the ever expanding internet. We especially want to reach out to online beginners and let them know it is not too late to get started. As more services, especially free ones, move online, we believe it is important that everyone learn the basics for navigating the internet. Think of a family member or friend who may find this web site helpful and forward it to them today. We wish you Good Luck and an Enjoyable Journey on the Internet.

ShopWithTrust.com also provides easy access to trusted retailers. We keep things simple for you by only listing stores with a long history of name recognition. We would like to be your one stop source for online shopping with stores like Macy's, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. Thank You and Best Wishes.

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