Customizing your
PC
© Disability Service Trinity College Dublin
Changing the Font for Visual Comfort
Changing the font or type style can be useful for minimising
stress on eyes when reading. On most PCs the default font is
‘Times New Roman’. However, there are a number of fonts to
experiment with such as:
Century Gothic
Comic Sans
Calibri
Verdana
Arial
Century Gothic, Arial and Verdana can cause less stress on
eyes when reading. Individual students will have their own font
preferences but finding the right font for you can make it easier
to read the text on screen.
© Disability Service Trinity College Dublin
Changing the Spacing and Font size
For some students changing the spacing on a document can
be very useful. If single line spacing is used some students may
find that the large blocks of text are difficult to read. Similarly it
is easy to enlarge the font size from something small like 10
point, to larger font such as 14 point.
If double spacing or 1.5 spacing is used the document can look
much clearer. The spacing used in this document is 1.5
For some students changing the spacing on a document can be very useful. If single line
spacing is used some students may find that the large blocks of text are difficult to read.
Similarly it is easy to enlarge the font size from something small like 10 point, to larger font
such as 14 point. If double spacing or 1.5 spacing is used the document can look much
clearer. The spacing used in this document is 1.5
Changing the Colour Schemes
Many students experience a ‘glare’ from a white background
and find that contrasting colour schemes within windows can
make the text easier to read. The colour scheme on a
computer can be customised for each user. Many students find
that a cream or pale blue background works for them
You can change the colour scheme in Microsoft Word under
‘page colour.’
© Disability Service Trinity College Dublin
You can change the colour scheme on your PC by going into
the Control Panel and making adjustments under the ‘Display’
setting. You can make adjustments to the visual display of your
computer screen here. As well as the basic colours available to
you it is possible to customize colours so you can find your
exact preference.
Enlarging text on screen
If you need to enlarge a web page where the text is too small
or indistinct, hold down the Control key and at the same time
press the ‘+’ key at the top right hand of your keyboard, until
you have the page magnified to the size that you want.
To reduce the size, hold down the Control key and at the same
time press the ‘– ‘ key until the screen size or web page has
been reduced.
© Disability Service Trinity College Dublin
Eden Skills have an excellent series of
posters and leaflets on keyboard short cuts
and other essential skills:
http://edenskills.co.uk/forstudents/print-outs/
© Disability Service Trinity College Dublin