Accessibility - Large Fonts don't apply to text in dialogs

[Guest]

On Windows XP, when I change the Font Size on the Appearance tab in the
Display Properties dialog to Large or Extra Large Fonts, the Menu Bar and
Tool Bar for dialogs changes to Large or Extra Large Fonts, but text
displayed in the dialog does not change size. You can see this in the
Display Properties dialog--the text labels for the drop-downs, the drop-down
text, and the button text all are unchanged. You can also see this same
behavior in NotePad and WordPad.

For a visually impaired user, this makes Windows extremely difficult to use.
Does anyone know if there currently is a way to change the font size in
dialogs? Also, does anyone know if Microsoft intends to fix this problem?

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Dialog boxes are not affected by the change of fonts since this would mean
stretching the text beyond the boundaries of the dialog box (dialog boxes are
non resizable by default).

One way to make readability is to go for the standard resolution of 800 *
600. This will give a bigger dialog box with the text much simpler to read.
But ensure that the monitors are at least 15" or 17" or else you will have
problems when using dialog boxes. The buttons at the bottom of the dialog box
tend to disappear under the task bar.

 

[Guest]

I see the text size change in lots of other windows (for example, the Control
Panel), although they are resizeable windows, not dialogs. It seems to me
that dialogs could remain non-resizeable, but when the Font size is
increased, Windows could also increase the size of the dialog to accomodate
the increased text size (and vice-versa). That would provide a more
consistent behavior by the OS.

Debby

 

[Sharon F]

That would provide a more
consistent behavior by the OS.

And that's where the crux of the problem lies - not all dialog boxes are
controlled by the operating system.

Also, have you tried the global font setting in Display properties>
Settings> Advanced yet? Reccomend reverting the setting in Appearance
before making that change.

The advanced setting is not perfect either but it is applied more
consistently.