How do I change color settings for my zyBook? – zyBooks - Help center

It is possible to adjust a website’s color scheme if the default colors make it difficult for you to read the text. The extent to which you can change colors and how to do it differs slightly between available product settings and browsers. Please follow the instructions below for your specific browser.

Accessibility Mode

If you are a student, switching on zyBooks’ Accessibility Mode increases the color contrast of elements that convey meaning without needing to make any adjustments to your browser. To switch on this mode:

Open one of the books in the My Library section.
Open the My Subscription tab on the book’s landing page.
Set the Accessible Mode switch to On.

For additional support, refer to What is Accessibility Mode and how do I enable it for my zyBook?

Google Chrome

At the time of writing, Google Chrome does not by default include functionality to allow you to change website colors. If you wish to change the color of websites, there are however several accessibility extensions that can be used. They are both free to use and developed by Google. They are:

Color Enhancer extension

The Color Enhancer extension allows you to apply a customizable color filter to webpages to improve color perception for people who are partially color-blind.

Color Enhancement setup requires two steps, and features the ability to adjust the final color enhancement through a slider. width=

Color Enhancer user interface

It allows you to adjust the color of foreground content such as text and images.

The zyBooks chapter features instructional text and the partial view of a participation activity. All buttons on the page are orange. Partial view of a zyBooks chapter before using the color enhancer

The buttons found in the zyBooks chapter are now a yellow/green once the color enhancer has been turned on. Partial view of a zyBooks chapter after using the color enhancer

High Contrast extension

The High Contrast extension allows you to change or invert colors on a website. It offers several different options, including increased contrast, grayscale, and yellow-on-black.

Color scheme options include normal, increased contrast, grayscale, inverted color, inverted greyscale, and yellow on black.

High Contrast extension

The buttons in the zyBooks chapter have changed from shades of orange to red. Grey and blue, which are used as background colors for some text elements, have darkened in hue. Partial view of a zyBooks chapter after using the High Contrast extension (increase contrast)

For more information on these extensions, refer to: Google Chrome Help: Use Chrome with Accessibility Extensions.

Mozilla Firefox

To change the color scheme of websites when viewed on Mozilla Firefox:

Locate and activate the application menu button at the top right-hand side of the browser window to open the related submenu.
Select Settings.
Under the Language and Appearance heading, locate the website appearance section. Here you can choose between light and dark mode.

Color scheme options include automatic, light, and dark mode. Website appearance menu on Mozilla Firefox

You can also change the colors of websites when viewed on Mozilla Firefox. To do this:

Locate and activate the application menu button at the top right-hand side of the browser window to open the related submenu.
Select Settings.
Under the Language and Appearance heading, locate and activate the Colors button.

At this stage, you can choose to change the color of the page’s text, links (both visited and unvisited) and the overall background color. Then, select Always from the Override the colors specified by the page with your selections above the drop-down menu.

Alternatively, if you are using a system level high contrast mode or dark mode, select Only with High Contrast themes from this drop-down menu. As a result, all web pages will honor the high contrast mode you have selected.

The colors panel contains options to change the color of text, the background, unvisited links, visited links colors, as well as the ability to override the colors specified by the page with the user's selections. Mozilla Firefox Colors panel

The zyBooks color scheme is black, white, grey, and orange. Partial view of a zyBooks chapter before using the color enhancer

The zyBooks color scheme has changed to black, white, and grey. Partial view of a zyBooks after adjusting the default colors on Mozilla Firefox

If you need to restore the system defaults, take the following steps:

Type about:config into Firefox’s address bar and press the Enter If a warning message subsequently appears, select Accept the Risk and Continue.
Enter browser*color in the Search Preference Name field and press the Enter key (be sure to include the asterisk*).
Click the Reset button next to each of the modified preferences (shown as bold). Each reset button is represented by a curved, leftwards-pointing, arrow, as shown in the following screenshot.

The about:config page, with the restore buttons highlighted for anchor color, background color, and document color use. Resetting Firefox’s system default colors

For more information on adjusting colors on Mozilla Firefox, refer to: Mozilla Support: Change the fonts and colors websites use.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge does not include specific options to adjust website colors. Instead, Microsoft recommends that you turn on Windows’ High Contrast mode for better readability. In this mode, a stronger contrast is provided between foreground text and its background.

To switch on High Contrast mode:

Close Microsoft Edge if you have it open.
Press the Start button, then select Settings followed by Ease of Access and then finally High Contrast.
Locate the Turn on high contrast switch and set it to On.

For more information on accessibility features in Microsoft Edge, refer to: Microsoft Support: Accessibility Features in Microsoft Edge.

Safari

Safari does not include specific options to adjust website colors. Instead, colors need to be adjusted at the system level. To do this:

Locate and activate the Apple menu at the top left-hand side of screen.
Select System Preferences.
Locate and activate the Accessibility option.
Locate and activate the Display option.
Check the related checkboxes for one or more of the following options:
- Invert colors: Swaps colors around, for example black text on a white background will be shown as white text on a black background. Check the additional Classic invert checkbox to apply this to images as well.
- Increase contrast: This increases the contrast of user interface elements, such as buttons, text fields, and checkboxes.

For more information on adjusting colors on MacOS, refer to: macOS User Guide: Change Display Preferences for Accessibility on Mac.

Note – dark mode

If you are running Mac OS 10.14 or above, or Windows 10 or above, you can also switch on a feature called dark mode. This affects all applications, not just browsers. When this mode is turned on, the browser’s toolbar and menus will be dark. If a website supports dark mode, some browsers will automatically show the website in this mode.

Full instructions for switching on this mode can be found at the following websites:

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