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Re: Font resizing and change contrast

for

From: John E Brandt
Date: Mar 29, 2012 2:21PM

>>I think they are very helpful for people on mobile browsers like the
iPhone & iPad where there are no options to increase your font size like you
can do with desktop browsers.<<

I am confused by this comment. The Mac iOS has zoom text assistive
technology (AT) built into the operating system; has for the past two years.
This is in addition to VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader, as well as a
feature allowing the user to reverse the screen from black on white to white
on black.

I will grant you that this is not "font resizing" as zoom simply increases
everything on the screen. But most of font enlargement widgets have a very
small range to which you can enlarge the font size and my experience with
zoom usually allows for a higher degree of screen magnification.

On the iPad/iPod, there are some apps that have font resizing functionality
included. The e-book reader in iOS, for example, has a font resizer tool as
well as the ability to change the font type allowing the user a fair amount
of control.

In addition, on most tablet devices (iOS and Android), I am fairly certain
that all you have to do to increase size/zoom in is use the reverse-pinch
gesture. Not sure about this on e-readers like Kindle and Nook.

For my own $0.02, I personally advocate against adding font-resize to
websites (even though I've used some CMS templates that have those features
built in). Apart from folks who may be experimenting with changing font
size, if the user needs special settings or AT to view content on websites,
they probably already have that installed and I don't want to add anything
that will mess up those settings or that equipment.

This question has come up time and again in this list and it usually comes
down to personal preference.

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA