Site help

Note: The browsers listed above have different features for changing the appearance and accessibility of web pages. If you want to try different browsers to find the one you like best, the download links are given below.

If you can't find what you want on the site, use the site search, the site map, email us or phone +44 (0)20 7862 8774.

Accessibility

This site aims to conform to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Guidelines Priority Levels 1, 2 and 3 (Conformance Level 'AAA'), as tested by 'Bobby'. The site also aims to use valid HTML, as tested by the W3C markup validation service. However, if you have any problems using this site, or suggestions as to how we can improve its accessibility, please email us or write to the Website Manager, The Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.

Note: At the moment, History On-Line and Reviews in History are still in the old design so they do not conform to the above standards. We are hoping to convert these sections into the new design soon.

Accesskeys: To give the user greater flexibility, this site has not defined accesskeys. If you would like us to define accesskeys, please email us.

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Printing the web pages

The pages on this site will automatically format for printing. Just click on 'File' then 'Print...' on your browser menu.

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Rtf and pdf files

Rtf ('Rich text format') files are like Word files, except you do not need Microsoft Word to open them. You can open them in Notepad or any simple word processor, and they will open on a PC or a Mac.

Pdf ('Portable document format') files were developed by Adobe Systems Inc., and you need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.

Pdf files compress information better than rtf files, so if an rtf file and a pdf file have the same content then the pdf file will be smaller and quicker to download. Pdfs also keep the formatting of the original document better. Some people still prefer rtf files, though, because they find Acrobat Reader slow to open, and they get annoyed by pop-up reminders to download the latest version.

On this site, we use both formats for small documents, but for larger documents we use pdf format.

Note: To convert a pdf file to a text file, try Adobe's online pdf to text converter.

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Change the site appearance

Internet Explorer

To increase the text size:

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Internet options'
  • Choose the 'Accessibility...' button towards the bottom of the panel
  • Tick 'Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages'
  • Click 'OK' to close this panel, and 'OK' to close the 'Internet options' panel
  • If the text size is still too small (or large), go to the 'View' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and go down to 'Text size'
  • Choose which text size you would like

To change the link colours (and remove background colour):

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Internet options'
  • Choose the 'Accessibility...' button towards the bottom of the panel
  • Tick 'Ignore colors specified on Web pages'
  • Click 'OK' to close this panel and 'OK' to close the 'Internet options' panel

To avoid downloading images:

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser.
  • Open this menu and select 'Internet options'
  • Choose the 'Advanced' tab at the top of the panel
  • Scroll down to the 'Multimedia' heading
  • Deselect the 'Show pictures' option
  • Click 'OK' to close the panel

(Browser website: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx)

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Firefox

To increase the text size:

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Options'
  • Choose the 'Fonts & colors...' button on the right
  • Choose the font size you want from the 'Minimum font size' menu
  • Click 'OK' to close this panel, and 'OK' to close the 'Options' panel

To change the link colours (and background colours):

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Options'
  • Choose the 'Fonts & colors...' button on the right
  • Set the background and link colours at the bottom of the panel
  • Select the 'Colors' box after 'Always use my:'
  • Click 'OK' to close this panel and 'OK' to close the 'Options' panel

To avoid downloading images:

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser.
  • Open this menu and select 'Internet options'
  • Choose the 'Advanced' tab at the top of the panel
  • Scroll down to the 'Multimedia' heading
  • Deselect the 'Show pictures' option
  • Click 'OK' to close the panel

(Browser website: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/)

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Netscape

(Note: for Netscape 8 follow the procedure for Firefox above.)

To increase the text size:

  • Go to the 'Edit' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Preferences...'
  • Open the 'Appearance' options on the left (by clicking on the triangle next to 'Appearance')
  • Select the 'Fonts' option
  • Choose a 'Minimum font size' from the drop-down menu on the right of the panel
  • Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' panel

To change the link colours (and background colours):

  • Go to the 'Edit' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Preferences...'
  • Open the 'Appearance' options on the left (by clicking on the triangle next to 'Appearance')
  • Select the 'Colors' option
  • Select the option 'Use my chosen colors, ignoring the colors and background image specified'
  • Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' panel

To avoid downloading images:

  • Go to the 'Edit' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Preferences...'
  • Open the 'Privacy&Security' options on the left (by clicking on the triangle next to 'Privacy&Security')
  • Choose the 'Images' option
  • Select 'Do not load any images' under the 'Image acceptance policy' on the right of the panel
  • Click 'OK' to close the 'Preferences' panel

(Browser website: http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/)

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Opera

(Note: these notes apply to Opera 8 only, which you can download from the link at the end of this section.)

To increase the text size:

  • Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Preferences'
  • Click the 'Advanced' tab
  • Choose 'Fonts' in the left panel
  • Fill in the font size you want from 'Minimum font size (pixels)'
  • Click 'OK'

To change the link colours (and background colours):

  • Go to the 'View' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'User mode'
  • Once you have selected this, you can choose more settings in the same menu to tweak the appearance e.g. 'High contrast W/B'

To avoid downloading images:

  • Go to the 'View' menu at the top of your browser
  • Open this menu and select 'Images' and then 'No images'

(Browser website: http://www.opera.com/)

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Safari (for Macs)

To increase the text size:

  • Open the 'View' menu at the top of your browser
  • Select 'Make text bigger' or 'Make text smaller'

To change the link colours (and background colours):

  • You need to create your own style sheet to use with web pages
  • Then go to the 'Safari' menu at the top of your browser
  • Select 'Preferences' and then 'Advanced'
  • In the 'Style sheet' drop down menu select 'Other'
  • Using the 'File Open' box, go to your personal style sheet
  • Select your style sheet and click 'Choose'

To avoid downloading images:

  • Go to the 'Safari' menu at the top of your browser and select 'Appearance'
  • Uncheck 'Display images'

(Browser website: http://www.apple.com/safari/download/)

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