I was ranting as I usually do on Twitter about how difficult it is to use a tablet with Windows 8.1 while being visually impaired. My actual tweet said “Every time I look at a Windows 8.1 Tablet or laptop I have to squint at the text on Metro UI apps. Anyone have a fix for that?”
I got a response from @MicrosoftHelps that said “@byron27 Happy to help! Refer to CurtisFuehr’s reply here: http://msft.it/60199wgf to enlarge the fonts on apps. Does this help? ^KW”
This forum is from October of 2012 so I don’t think we’re going to find any real answers here. I was hoping some of my grievances would have been dealt with in Windows 8.1 Update 1…. but so far I haven’t heard anything.
The solution that Curtis outlined on the forum was…
“From the Start Screen just type the word “font” and select the Settings filter on the right. You should see an option to “Make text and other items larger or smaller”. Click on that and adjust the text or everything to the desired size.”
This solution changes the size of items on the desktop via adjusting the DPI scaling. His instructions were not effective for any of the Live Tile apps in the Modern UI.
Andreas Bovens replied with this solution, which I think is the same one I already tried a few months ago… and the problem is that it will only work on full sized desktop displays and not on tablets.
1. Click on the Start button to get the new Windows UI
2. Start typing “font” (without quotes)
3. Click on “Settings”
4. Click on “Make everything on your screen bigger”; this opens PC settings (which is different from the classic Configuration Screen)
5. Set “Make everything on your screen bigger” to On.
Other recommendations for enlarging text on Metro UI apps include this tidbit from Ronnie Vernon. “Most of the Store Apps will respond to WinKey (+ or -) to Zoom In and Zoom Out.”
I believe this only activates and deactivates the Windows Magnifier which is a pixel zoom and has a plethora of aesthetic and functional flaws.
Robert Aldwinckle suggested doing Ctrl and + or – to adjust text size within some apps. He also suggested that “Semantic zoom (e.g. reverse pinch gesture) is probably available.”
In a posting near the end of this forum jhb23 said exactly what I’ve been thinking all along regarding the way computers are trending toward smaller and smaller font. He said “With the largest population cohort in recent history hitting the age of vision deterioration, and with all kinds of new technology, MS ought to seize the chance to really serve a population.”
Amen brother! I couldn’t agree more! He continued by saying…
“We’re also the people who latched on to the PC and have used it fanatically for 30 years. Now you’re going to jam us between finger-painting (Metro) we don’t have equipment for, and text we can’t read????”
Man, this guy should write a blog for us, he’s full of that Low Vision Rage! Anyway, this forum was refreshing because at least I was able to find other people who have the same difficulties and kept getting the same crappy answers I was getting. The long URL for this forum is http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-desktop/is-there-a-way-to-increase-the-text-size-in/9630bd5b-58ff-47be-8fc6-688de5c921ca.
The next time I wind up in a store with Windows 8 Tablets I’ll try these steps to see what happens. I don’t think we’re going to see any major differences in how Windows 8.1 works regarding adjusting font sizes… but I’d LOVE to be wrong about that!
