I never thought I would bitch about this to DU'ers

[Cleita]

but I am going cross eyed, myself, over posts that are unreadable. When SoCalDem posted on her eyesight loss, and I too have problems looking at unreadable text, I decided to say something. For those of us who are suffering from diminished eyesight, white space in posts is really important. By that I mean, please double space between paragraphs and please break up your posts into paragraphs. Every four or five lines is good for us.

Don't worry about transistions, just break it up. Our eyes thank you. I actually didn't read several posts that looked interesting to me tonight because they filled the whole page without breaks. Maybe they had been paragraphed but there was no white space between the paragraphs for comfort. I moved on. So if you want us to read these gems, please help out those of us with old eyes and less strong eyes.

Thank you.

[Dirty Hippie]

1. Some advice

If you download netscape and use it for your browser you can magnify all text on the web.

(You can also increase the size of some text in Internet Explorer, but not DU's. It depends on how the page is coded)

In netscape select "view" from the menu and then "zoom". Again, works on all web pages.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Opera also has...

a dropdown box box on the bar that allows magnification up to 1000%

[Booberdawg]

2. I always skip posts that are all one long paragraph

with no breaks. Not that I can't read it, it's just that it's harder to follow without "some" white space in the darn thing.

I wear special glasses for just while I am at the PC, and got these "computer glasses" a couple years ago because as a programmer I worked in front of a PC all day and my usual glasses prescription for normal distances and added bifocals built in them were not appropriate for the mid distance I needed for sitting at the computer.

I don't pretend to have the problem with eyesight some of my fellow DUers do though. I have my "computer glasses" and I can see fine. Not breaking up a long post into paragraphs is just an annoyance - and is hard to follow even for good eyes without some white space to break it up.

[TrogL]

3. drop your screen resolution

back to 640 * 480. If your computer is realtively new it's probably at 1024*768, which is almost unreadable on a 15" monitor. The refresh rate of 800 * 600 is so slow it will give you headaches so don't use it.

[SoCalDem]

4. You are a genius... I changed to 800 x 600 (the smallest I have)

and WOW.. I can see this better already.. Of course anyone else who tries to use my computer will freak out.. Everything is H U G E .. But I need it that way now.. :) I may not have to buy a screen magnifier now... I always had the settings at the highest, because I liked everything tiny and neat.. Now I need BIG and sloppy looking :)

Thanks again, TrogL

edited to add. I said yesterday that I had not cried yet...but your hint actually did make me cry.. When the screen refreshed in HUGE mode, I did actually cry because I could see the screen and read what was written without the magnifying thing.. You gave me a great present..Thanks..

[rasputin1952]

9. (pssst).....

"miracles" can come from odd places 'eh? LOL

O8)

[HamstersFromHell]

17. Actually, as the screen size goes down, the refresh rate...

...can go much higher.

A lot of monitors factory set to 1024x768 are also set to 72Hz....dropping the resolution to 800x600 should allow you to raise the refresh rate to 75Hz or perhaps 80Hz. Note that Windows does NOT do this automatically...if a different resolution has not been previously set, it will try to use the same refresh rate or a lower one.


For most Windows users: Control Panel > Display > Settings(Tab) > Advanced > Monitor(Tab) > Refresh Frequency(Drop Down Menu) Make sure the checkbox for "Hide modes this monitor cannot display" is checked, and that the monitor listed at the top of the page under "Monitor Type" is either the monitor you have or else "Plug and Play"


Anything below 72Hz produces noticable "flicker" and eye fatigue for most people. 75Hz is a lot better, and even higher rates provided your monitor can use them. The higher the refresh rate you can run, the less eyestrain and/or headaches it'll cause you if you're sensitive to such things.

[Kamika]

5. geez

you sound like my goddamn english teacher

[MaineDem]

6. Sorry you feel that way

Those of us with eyesight issues appreciate the suggestion, however.

[rasputin1952]

8. Thanks, for the reality check...

After all, we are the beneficiaries of an educational system, and should have learned basic writing skills a long time ago.

HOWEVER: The thought occurs to me; you COULD go to FR, those posts are rarely longer than one line, much less paragraphs. But the typo's are really horrendous! :crazy:

O8)

[gator_in_Ontario]

10. Great suggestion

I was wondering why long unbroken pages were bothering me...I read all the time but sometimes posts overwhelm me. That is probably why.

[nuxvomica]

11. That's a good suggestion

I have eyesight problems myself, plus a short attention span, and I dread reading long, unbroken posts. Spare prose is also helpful. I saw a post recently in the lounge that was an absolute pleasure to read because it was so carefully written, even though the subject matter dealt with unhappiness.

[DS1]

12. One trick of mine when text is really small

and unbroken, is to simply start highlighting the lines as I finish them, so I just read whatever is under the black bits.

Also make sure your screen REFRESH rate isn't 60, 60 is like looking at a flourescent lamp all day, try 75, or that's not avail, 72.

It'll be like going from staring at the sun to looking at a book.

[FlaGranny]

13. A big screen

monitor also helps, but is a bit expensive.

[blondeatlast]

14. Thanks Clete--so true.

The library just rejected a self-published book that was perhaps worthy over one detail--double-spacing the entire book.

White space is critical--it gives your eyes a chance to rest without effort.

There is a reason to have certain standards and protocols; this is a great example of one.

[KTM]

15. Make text bigger

In IE, if you hold down the CTRL key while scrolling the mouse wheel, you can alter the size of the default text. (That is, in HTML, you can set font size relative to a default value, i.e., "+3" is three sizes larger than the default value.) By scrolling the wheel, you alter the default size, and can thus make type coded this way appear larger. It will not work, however, on web pages where the font size is hard-coded to a specific size.

To see this in action, try doing it while viewing the DU home page.

[SheilaT]

16. I've been known to PM

posters of long one paragraph posts and ask them (kindly, I hope) to consider paragraphing.