If you missed the article on 10 reasons to use the DuckDuckGo search engine, I highly recommend you go back and check that out for some background. And when you’re done here, check out my post on DuckDuckGo bangs to supercharge your searching. This article will focus on customizing the settings for the DuckDuckGo search engine.
Getting Into the Duck’s Settings
When you first arrive at duck.com, you will find a settings menu with the following options: More Themes, and Other Settings. We will check out these first. Note that screen reader users may not notice any difference if playing with themes, so feel free to skip ahead to the Other Settings section.
More Themes
The options you have under themes are:
Default
Basic
Contrast
Dark
Gray
Terminal
Once you check the theme you want, you can hit the Save and Exit link to save your settings.
Other Settings
If you activate the “other settings” link, you will be taken to the general settings on DuckDuckGo. Note that there is a listing of settings under More Themes as well as Other Settings, so you can get to these options from both places.
General Settings
Region: A drop-down box that lets you tailor DuckDuckGo to your region. Leave it as is if you don’t want results specific to your geographic location.
Browser Preferred Language: You will most likely want to leave this alone as it will use the language your internet browser is set to. This dropdown lets you specify a different language if needed.
Safe Search: A dropdown that lets you decide how much adult content appears in your results. Your choices are Off, Moderate, and Strict.
Note for Screen Reader Users
Most of the other settings are checkboxes. You should know that the setting label is above the description. As an example, you may hear something like: Checkbox checked, On, Setting label, Description of setting. As we go through a few of these you will begin to understand this better.
Key Settings Explained
Instant Answers: This will bring up answers to questions automatically without you needing to visit a website. To see this in action, try typing What is a tachyon? into DuckDuckGo. You’ll get a quick answer from Wikipedia right in the search results without visiting the site first. Pretty slick!
Auto-Load Images: If on, this loads more image results when scrolling. Screen reader users may want to turn this one off.
Auto-Load: This option will load more results automatically while you are scrolling through them.
Auto-Suggest: Shows suggestions under the search box as you type. If you are using the keyboard, you can just arrow down to see search suggestions. For example, if you type Atlanta Georgia, you’ll get things like weather or other suggested results. You can then click or press enter on the one you want.
New Window: This checkbox allows you to open search results in a new tab or window. Some people like having the result and the listing of results in different tabs or windows. If that’s not you, turn it off.
Advertisements: If you want to help support the duck, you can leave this on.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Turns on keyboard shortcuts for DuckDuckGo.
Units of Measure: A dropdown to select your preferred measurements for results. You can select No Preference (default), Metric (Kilograms, Meters, Celsius), or US Based (Pounds, Feet, Fahrenheit).
Directions Source: A dropdown that lets you choose your map source for directions: Bing Maps, Google Maps, Here Maps, or OpenStreetMap.
Map Rendering: The rendering method for interactive maps. Options are Not Set, Best Available, or Image Tiles.
Page Break Numbers: Show page numbers at result page breaks. Screen reader users probably won’t notice this, so you can safely turn this off.
Page Break Lines: Show horizontal lines at result page breaks. Again, this is a visual item. Screen reader users will likely not notice any benefit from this being on.
Install DuckDuckGo: Shows links to instructions for how to add DuckDuckGo to your browser. If you already have the duck working in your browser you can just turn this off.
DuckDuckGo Reminders: Shows you reminders intermittently to add DuckDuckGo to your browser. If you’ve already done this, turn it off.
Privacy Newsletter: Shows a form to subscribe to the duck’s privacy email newsletter.
Homepage Privacy Tips: Show the privacy benefits of using DuckDuckGo on the homepage.
Help Improve DuckDuckGo: Once in a while, if this option is turned on, you may be asked to provide feedback on how well the duck is working for you.
If you’re done here, you can hit the Save and Exit link to save and exit the settings.
Appearance Settings
Going back up to the top of settings, we will now explore appearance-related settings. Screen reader users may not get any benefit from changing these settings.
The first three settings deal with font: Font Style, Size, and Page Width. Most of the other settings deal with colors for links, heading styles, or results text. You also have to input these in hexadecimal formats. There are a few settings here that are not strictly visual. One allows you to show the full URL. Another allows you to show the full result URL for results-based searches. This can be useful if you need to know the source of a given answer to a question you asked the duck. Visual users may appreciate the ability to underline result title links, and that is an option here as well.
Saving Settings and Cloud Backup
You can hit Save and Exit whenever you want to. However, the duck also has a Save To Cloud option. You can find this in the privacy settings link at the top of settings. Here, all you need is a password. No account creation required. If you are on a new computer or browser and you want your settings back, just enter your password and your settings are instantly recovered on your new browser. Pretty slick!
FAQ
Is DuckDuckGo accessible with screen readers like JAWS and NVDA?
Yes. DuckDuckGo works well with screen readers. Most settings are standard checkboxes and dropdowns. Just remember that the setting label appears above its description.
What’s the difference between DuckDuckGo and Google?
DuckDuckGo focuses on privacy: it doesn’t track your searches or build a profile on you. Check out my 10 reasons to use DuckDuckGo post for more details.
Do I need an account to use DuckDuckGo?
No. You can use DuckDuckGo without any account. If you want to save your settings across browsers, you just need a password, no account creation required.
What are DuckDuckGo bangs?
Bangs are shortcuts that let you search other websites directly from DuckDuckGo. I cover this in my Bang your Way to Knowledge with the Duck post.
Can I make DuckDuckGo my default search engine?
Yes. DuckDuckGo provides instructions for adding it to all major browsers. Look for the “Install DuckDuckGo” option in settings for browser-specific instructions.
Conclusion
Well, that will do it for this article. Between customizing your search experience here and using bangs for quick searches across the web, you’ve got a powerful, private search engine at your fingertips.
Qapla!