Font size too small

It doesn't matter if you do all the error checking in the world, or if you have the most beautiful graphics, if your site or application design isn't usable, it's not going to do well. Get input and advice on usability and user interface issues here.

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evilmonkey
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Font size too small

Post by evilmonkey »

Imagine the following situation: you're an operator working for a large company. You're given a desktop that has a huge resolution (1600x1200+). You have many applications beside each other, thus eliminating the need for taskbars/alt+tab and the like. One of your applications is a web-browser running the software that's at the centre of your productivity. And the font on that browser is way too small, and after an 8 hour shift, you feel terrible eye strain. Adjusting font in IE is NOT an option (it's disabled by the evil tech people and techs tell you that enabling it is not an option).

So now you're someone in tech, dealing with this problem. What are the possible solutions? So far we have come up with lower the resolution (it'll mess up the other applications), put in a dual-monitor setup with different resolutions (quite costly) and modify the web-based app (sounds good, but there are people in other departments using that app on humane resolutions, so it'd mess them up). There are also more creative things like special mouse drivers that magnify text as you mouseover it, unfortunately if the problem is eye strain, this might make it even worse (rule: the less moving "stuff", the less eye strain). Any other solutions that we may have missed? Anything creative? Hardware or software solutions are fine at this point.

Thanks. :)
nickvd
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Post by nickvd »

I would strongly suggest to them that they increase the font size on the system. One call to the labour board will cause them to change their minds drastically. Your working environment is directly causing you bodily harm. It's your employers responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy working environment.
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evilmonkey
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Post by evilmonkey »

That's what we're doing (application isn't fully rolled out yet)...these are just preliminary concerns. I'm just wondering what solutions there are other than the ones I mentioned.
parka
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Post by parka »

Try installing other browsers?

I think Avant browser uses the IE engine. Might have font resize there.
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pickle
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Post by pickle »

If resizing IE isn't an option, would it work in Firefox & let the user change the font size to their liking?
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
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Kieran Huggins
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Post by Kieran Huggins »

How about adding a few CSS rules to make things a tad larger?
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Post by Weirdan »

For IE: Internet Options/Accessibility/User Style Sheet
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evilmonkey
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Post by evilmonkey »

Weirdan wrote:For IE: Internet Options/Accessibility/User Style Sheet
All menus are blocked and unblocking them is not an option on this desktop (it might mess up some other applications for one reason or another...)
Kieran Huggins wrote:How about adding a few CSS rules to make things a tad larger?
That's actually a good idea. I don't know how to do it to make sure it doesn't mess up the application for everyone else though. (this web app runs on a whole bunch of workstations, all wth different resolutions...none as high as the workstations in question though. Increasing fonts to suit that workstation will mess up how it looks on smaller resolutions)
parka wrote:Try installing other browsers?
Another good suggestion. I'll look into it, see if we can get firefox in there (it will be a heck of a bttle though to convince management that OSS is not the devil)

Thanks everyone! :)
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pickle
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Post by pickle »

If you're worried about a larger font size messing it up for some viewers, give options. Some websites these days have something like 'AAA' in a corner somewhere. Tying that in to some javascript could give everyone what they need.
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Post by parka »

The old version of Firefox, called Firebird doesn't need to be installed to be used.

If you managed to find that, it's just unzip and use. So you don't need administrative rights.
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