SOLVED Internet Explorer Readability

[BearPup]

Hello All,
I am partially visually impaired and the fonts that make up the IE browser are lightweight (i.e., not bold weight), and small in font size. In Firefox, there is a 'Theme and Font Size Changer' add-on that allows me to specify font, size and weight of the Firefox GUI. And in the Windows Seven tutorials there is a way to change system fonts (which helps), but doesn't solve the problem.

So my question: is there some way to change either the font, or weight, or size of the fonts used in the IE interface?

Any help greatly appreciated.
Regards,
BearPup

 

[TrainableMan]

To change the default fonts is easy ... Tools .... Internet Options .... General Tab .... Fonts button (under the Appearance section). But most webpages probably specify the font they want, so you wouldn't see "the default" when they actually specify something else unless you go into the next button "Accessibility" and check next to "ignore webpage styles" and "ignore font size".

What might help even more is the zoom function: ctrl plus (+) to enlarge the webpage and ctrl minus (-) for shrink, ctrl zero (0) to restore to 100%

 

[BearPup]

Thanks TrainableMan, I'm aware of the options you specify, and I have made those changes. However those apply only to the content of websites / pages. What I'm needing to do is change the font / size / weight of the fonts that make up the wording on the interface. In other words It would change the characters (the font) from a standard weight to a heavy (bold) weight. So words like "File", "Search Forums", "Help", "Windows", "Favorites" would on the interface appear as though the Bold weight has been applied. If you need more of an explanation let me know and I'll do a screenshot for you.

 

[TrainableMan]

I believe the application text should be controlled by your windows settings which affects the appearance of almost all program windows.

If you are using Aero your options seem limited, setting the Control Panel > display settings: magnification to 125% or 150% or setting custom text size DPI.

However if you choose a basic theme then you can do just like in XP where you pick the font & size of text in application windows, text boxes, buttons, etc. In Control Panel > personalization choose a basic theme then select window color then click advanced appearance settings.

 

[Shintaro]

You could possibly use ZoomIT from sysinternals. It's generally used for IT demo's but you can control how much it magnifies.

 

[BearPup]

Thanks for responding Shintaro. The problem with using a zooming tool is that the content of pages is already magnified by setting the default zoom at 125%. Unfortunately, the words that make-up the interface and its components (drop-down menus, context menus, etc.) are not affected by the zooming function. I guess what I'm coming to is that IE will be my browser of absolutely last resort.

 

[Shintaro]

With ZoomIT it is controlled by the keyboard. So that when you use a menu you can use ZoomIT with the mouse. Then zoom back out again using the keyboard.

 

[BearPup]

Thanks for responding. I hadn't seen the two-prong approach in the description. I'll take another look at it.

 

[TrainableMan]

I believe the tool shintaro mentioned works similar to the W7 magnify tool and would not be part of the browser, therefore it can enlarge parts of the window including the menus.

But I still believe the easiest thing is just to turn off Aero and adjust things such as menu height/font/font size/fond bold. Just compare ...

Before:

and After:

 

[BearPup]

TrainableMan: I suppose I could revert to the XP look, but I have resisted that approach as my background photos are my own, and I don't want to move 'backwards' to a very out of date look. Frankly, I rather use PaleMoon (Firefox derivative) as my browser than go backwards to the XP look.

Shintaro: I tried the ZoomIt tool and what I find is that I lose the functionality of the mouse wheel when ZoomIt is activated. And I use the mouse wheel constantly in my work.

What I'm really looking for is an application / add-on for IE that functions like the Theme Font and Size Changer does in the Firefox and Thunderbird programs - it acts directly on the application's menus and theme to allow the 'standard' font to be changed to a different font and weight (bold),

 

[TrainableMan]

I could be wrong but I don't think you will find it, just because IE uses Microsoft's intended application window design. Basically Microsoft creates a standard set of subroutines to create windows forms. Logically, if you write all applications to use a common set of subroutines then each application can be smaller, you save development time not constantly reinventing the wheel, and in the end applications from many sources should still look consistent on a single desktop and all based on the users Personalization choices maintained and changed in only one location. Maintaining a separate appearance from all other windows is actually contrary to this standardized design philosophy.

Off topic: Personally I was a bit perturbed when I bought the latest version of Paint Shop Pro because it does NOT follow my Personalization, neither my Aero nor my classic XP settings. In PSP X6 I have a couple limited choices because it is controlled and maintained in the application rather than using the standard procedure calls. I can't even have the most common: black menu text on white background because they didn't code for it.

 

[BearPup]

TrainableMan: I appreciate your feedback, and I will also check out DonationCoder to see if they can do something. With all the various 'front-end' customizations, I was hopeful something had already been created.

My appreciation to you and Shintaro for the feedback.

 

[BearPup]

@TrainableMan & Shintaro: the solution to the problem is to change the default Windows system font from Segoe to Trebuchet MS Bold (using the Windows 7 tutorial). This gives the bold weight I'm looking for. The trade-off is the loss of one program - Cyberlink's PhotoDirector (versions 4 & 5). Apparently the extra 'room' the Trebuchet font uses is too large for PhD and it therefore draws all the GUI boxes, but none of the required text to go into those boxes, i.e., instead of the various menu names on the GUI, there is a placeholder for the name but no text.

So far it is just that one program that has the problem, and since I have several other Photoshop-level programs (including Photoshop) it is not that big of a loss. So I thank you both for your suggestions, but this seems to be the best trade-off currently available.

I have received another suggestion that actually wins the prize. It uses my standard Windows theme, but changes the system fonts like in XP of old, but doesn't force me to use the Classic themes. Access is provided via the Personalization menu. Once there, clicking on Windows Color opens the color dialogue box, at the bottom of which is an Advanced Settings option. Clicking on that opens the settings dialogue box referred to in an earlier TrainableMan's post.

Using that approach I was able to set all text to Trebuchet MS Bold, 11 pt. type, while still keeping a Windows 7 theme. This is very usable by me, covers all menus and context dialogues, and PhotoDirector is alive and functioning.