Small text can come from several places: an application's reading view, the operating system's text settings, the display's scaling, or the content itself. A useful adjustment starts by identifying where the difficulty appears and what the employee wants to preserve on screen.
This guide supports the office workstation accessibility plan. It focuses on choosing and testing display adjustments with the person who uses the workstation, rather than prescribing a percentage for everyone.
Identify the layer that needs changing
Ask the employee to show one comfortable screen and one difficult screen, using non-sensitive examples. Is the problem the document text, the application menus, the entire interface, or a detail that only occasionally needs enlargement?
Use that answer to choose a starting point:
- For one document or website, inspect its reading or zoom controls first.
- For text across supported parts of the system, review text-size settings.
- For generally small controls and content, consider display scaling or the platform's display-size options.
- For occasional detail, consider a magnification tool rather than changing the entire working layout.
These are trial choices. An application may respond differently from the rest of the desktop, so the setting preview cannot settle the decision.
Make one controlled adjustment
Windows 11
Microsoft distinguishes text size from overall scaling. Text size is under Settings > Accessibility > Text size. Overall scaling is in Display settings under Scale & layout. Some applications may require signing out and back in before changes take effect.
Record the current value before adjusting either control. Start with the setting that matches the identified barrier, apply one change, and reopen the employee's sample task. Save work before any sign-out required by the system or application.
Mac
Apple's enlargement guidance separates text size, Hover Text, Zoom, and display-size options. Check the instructions for the installed macOS version instead of assuming every Mac has the same controls.
The preferred text-size setting applies to listed applications and supported interface areas. Changing an application's size there can replace a customization previously made inside that app. Record a useful existing preference before experimenting.
Test the content and its controls together
Choose a small set of screens that represent the job. An email reader alone will not reveal what happens in a spreadsheet or a form with a fixed toolbar.
Try these checks with harmless material:
- Read an email subject, message body, and attachment name.
- Enter information in a form and find its error message and submit or cancel control without actually sending it.
- Read spreadsheet headings and edit a sample cell without losing the relevant row or column context.
- Open a dialog and reach its bottom buttons.
- View a sample document's preview and distinguish the application's view size from any change to the document itself.
Ask the employee whether the result remains workable when two windows are needed. Fewer visible items can be an acceptable tradeoff; hidden essential controls need investigation.
Recognize the failure before choosing another fix
If a web form's labels become readable but its buttons disappear, record the browser, zoom level, window size, and affected control. Do not quietly shrink the view back to a size the employee cannot use and mark the problem resolved.
W3C's Resize Text explanation describes preserving web content and functionality when text is enlarged to 200%, with specified exceptions. That is useful background for reporting a web-content problem, not a mandatory desktop setting or proof that a workstation passes an accessibility review.
If menus improve while the document remains small, inspect the application's own view controls. If the layout is usable but the pointer is difficult to locate, review pointer options separately instead of escalating every display setting together.
Verify the normal desk arrangement
Move the working application between the displays the employee actually uses. Disconnect and reconnect the normal dock when practical, then check the same dialog and sample document again. Record any required recovery step and decide whether it is reasonable for daily use.
Include caption windows or other frequently used overlays in the final layout check. They must fit alongside the work, not just in an empty desktop demonstration.
Use the shared-workstation handoff to preserve the chosen configuration when desks or devices change. For a coordinated review across office equipment, discuss the requirements and support boundaries through managed IT services.
Reviewed October 23, 2026. Menu names and supported options vary by software version. The proposed checks document a working configuration, not a universal display standard.