Making text easier to see in Windows 95, 98, ME or 2000
Changing Your Screen Resolution
- Open the Start menu by clicking on the Start button or by pressing the Windows logo key (located between the Ctrl and Alt keys) - or Ctrl + Esc
- Click on Settings or press the letter S on the keyboard.
- Click on Control Panel or press the letter C on the keyboard.
- Double click on Display or press the D key repeatedly until Display
is highlighted and press Enter to bring up the Display Properties.(see
Fig. 1)
Fig 1 - Click on the settings tab or press Control + Tab until the settings tab is at the front
- Click and drag the slider underneath the heading Screen resolution to a lower setting than what is already there, IE 640 by 480 or 800 by 600. Alternatively, press Alt + S to select the screen resolution slider bar and then press the left or right arrow keys to adjust the slider bar.
- Click OK or press Enter to close the dialog box and see the changes you have made.
Using Large Fonts
Follow the steps in the previous section to go to the settings page of the display properties dialog box.
- Click on the advanced button, or press Alt + D to bring up the advanced properties. (see Fig. 2)
- Press Alt + F, or use the mouse to select the font size option.
- Using the mouse click on the down arrow in this box, or press Alt + Down arrow. This will display the options in the list. You can move through the list using the mouse or arrow keys. When the selection you want is highlighted, click on it or press the enter key. Read on for a description of the options.
- Font size is usually set to Small Fonts. The two options you have are Large Fonts and Other.… Choosing large fonts will increase the size of the fonts to 125% of their current size. If you want to go any larger than this then you should select the Other… option (see the next section for relevant instructions).
- If you have chosen large fonts then you can just click OK or press Enter to return to the display properties. Click OK or press Enter again to return to Windows – you may be asked to restart your computer at this point, so do so. When you return to Windows, you should find that the font size has increased. If you want to choose a font size higher than 125% then skip to the next section.
Fig 1
Only read this part if you chose Other… as the Font Size
Choosing Other… as a font size allows you to choose a font size above
125%, although the largest font you can get away with is determined by your
screen resolution. IE at a resolution of 800 * 600 the largest font size
you can usefully use is 125% - above this and you’ll find that some
dialog boxes do not fit on the screen anymore due to being stretched to
accommodate the new font size. It is best to experiment to find the right
font size for you.
To choose a larger font size:
- Follow the previous section through until you choose Large Fonts from
the font size list. Instead choose Other…This will take you to the
screen shown in Fig. 3
Fig 3 - Click on the drop down box or press Alt + S and, using the up and down arrow keys, choose a new value and press Enter, or type one in (between 75% and 200%), and press Enter or click OK to return to the the Advanced display page. Press Enter or click OK to return to Display Properties and press Enter or click OK once again to return back to Windows.
- You will probably be asked to restart your computer before the new font sizes take effect. Click OK to restart your computer.
Schemes
Font sizes and styles can also be changed using schemes. A scheme is a collection of styles that can be applied to Windows. A scheme can contain information on font styles and sizes, background and foreground colours etc.
To have a look at schemes:
- Click the Start button or press the Windows key to bring up the start menu.
- Click on Settings or press S
- Click on Control Panel or press C
- Double click on Display or press the D key until the Display item is highlighted and press Enter. This will bring up the display properties (see Fig. 1 above).
- Click on the Appearance tab or press Ctrl + Tab until it is at the front.
- Click in the drop down box below Schemes or press Alt + S to jump to this box.
- Use the up and down arrows or the mouse to browse through the list of schemes. As each scheme is selected, the changes this scheme will make are reflected in the window of this dialog box.
- Several of the schemes available include large fonts and or high visibility colours. All of these have either the words: Large, Extra Large or High Contrast within their name so you may want to try these out first.
- Once you have selected a scheme that you like, press Enter or click OK to select it. Press Enter again to return to Windows – your new settings should be apparent.
- If you want to try a different scheme, just run through these steps again.