Make everything on your screen easier to read

This is the first thing I change on most computers I sit down at, and it is almost never something the owner knew was possible.

Screens arrive set up for someone with excellent eyesight sitting quite close. If that is not you, you have probably spent years squinting, leaning forward, or quietly avoiding the computer because using it is tiring.

None of that is necessary. Every device has these settings built in, and changing them takes about five minutes.

Windows

Make everything bigger. Press the Windows key, type display settings, and open it. Near the top there is a setting called Scale, usually at 100%. Change it to 125% or 150%.

This is the big one. It enlarges text, buttons, menus and icons together, so everything stays properly arranged. It is much better than only changing the text size.

Turn up the text size on its own. In the same settings area, look for Accessibility, then Text size. This enlarges text without changing anything else, and is useful on top of scaling.

Use the magnifier when you need it. Hold the Windows key and press + to zoom into part of the screen. Windows key and Esc turns it off. Handy for small print on a website rather than as a permanent setting.

Try dark mode. Under Settings, Personalisation, Colours. Some people find light text on a dark background far more comfortable, particularly in the evening. Others find the opposite. Try it for a day.

Make the mouse pointer easier to find. Under Accessibility, Mouse pointer, you can make it much larger and change its colour. Bright green or bright pink is not elegant, but if you spend time hunting for the cursor it is transformative.

Mac

Bigger everything: System Settings, Displays, then choose a Larger Text option in the resolution list.

Zoom: System Settings, Accessibility, Zoom. Turn on “Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom”, which lets you hold Control and scroll to zoom in and out of anything instantly. This is one of the best features on a Mac and almost nobody knows about it.

Bigger pointer: Accessibility, Display, Pointer, and drag the pointer size up.

Increase contrast: Accessibility, Display, then “Increase contrast”. Makes edges and buttons much more clearly defined.

iPad and iPhone

Bigger text: Settings, Display & Brightness, Text Size. Drag the slider.

If that is not enough, go to Settings, Accessibility, Display & Text Size, Larger Text, and turn on Larger Accessibility Sizes. This goes considerably further than the normal setting.

Bold text, in the same place, makes an enormous difference to legibility and costs nothing.

Zoom: Settings, Accessibility, Zoom. Once on, triple-tapping with three fingers zooms the whole screen.

Stop the screen going dark while you read: Settings, Display & Brightness, Auto-Lock, and set it to 5 minutes or Never. A small thing that irritates people daily.

Android

The names vary a little between manufacturers, but look under Settings, Display, for Font size and Display size. Both are worth increasing. Under Settings, Accessibility, there is also a magnification option.

Two things worth doing while you are there

Turn off the notifications that startle you. Most people have dozens of apps allowed to interrupt them, almost all of which were never wanted. On any device, go into notification settings and turn off everything except messages, calls and anything you genuinely rely on. The reduction in daily stress is out of all proportion to the effort.

Sort out the brightness. Screens set too bright in a dim room cause more eye strain than small text does. If your device has automatic brightness, turn it on. If not, turn the brightness down until it looks comfortable rather than dazzling.

Why nobody showed you

These settings are not hidden, exactly, but they are several layers down in a menu system that assumes you already know what you are looking for. The word “accessibility” also puts people off, because it sounds like it is meant for somebody else with a formal diagnosis.

It is not. It means “adjust this so it suits you”, and it is meant for everybody. Needing bigger text at 68 is exactly as unremarkable as needing reading glasses.

If using your computer is tiring, that is a settings problem far more often than it is an eyesight problem.

If you would rather not go hunting

This is a common first session, and it is a good one, because everything afterwards becomes easier. Twenty minutes on these settings often does more for somebody’s confidence than an hour of lessons on anything else.

I do this as part of computer lessons for seniors across Lake Macquarie and Newcastle, and it is usually the first thing we do.