Screen magnification
The need for screen magnification
Some users of ICT have visual impairments which mean they can only see images or text when they are magnified.
People with tunnel vision for example can only concentrate on a limited area of the screen at any one time. People with dyslexia and learning difficulties can also need assistance with text as it can often appear too small in some situations.
To enable users with such difficulties to use ICT some manufacturers of software have created Screen Magnifiers. Microsoft™ has incorporated a Screen Magnifier in Windows XP, under the Accessibility section of the Accessories menu.
Benefits
Screen magnifiers allow users to view areas of the screen at an increased magnification rate. Depending on the version of magnifier the user has, there can be different sizes of magnified regions. Some software allows the user the option of partial and full screen magnification. Other suppliers only allow a small magnified viewer, which shows the area of the screen the user is reading at a much higher rate.
There is an array of screen magnification software on the market and like all assistive technologies it is a matter of finding what works best for the individual.
When viewing a website, a visitor surfing at normal screen resolution can easily recognise the ‘shape’ of the page – where the page links are and where the main text area sits on the screen. But a site which has a lot of white space may easily cause a person viewing the page magnified to become lost and unable to find their way around. It is not unlikely for them to be stuck in either the top or bottom corners of the page wondering why they can’t move in a certain direction.
Screen magnification can greatly assist the user overcome reading difficulties by enlarging the text. They have also proven to be of enormous benefit to people with tunnel vision and other forms of visual impairments. But it is important to try and pick resources which will work well with magnification and not confuse or stress the user.
Useful links
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An article from the BRITE Initiative looking at a number of digital magnification systems for people with low vision.
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Lunar Screen Magnifier and Lunar Plus Enhanced Screen Magnifier Lunar Screen Magnifier works with Windows and Windows applications, including word processing, spreadsheets, the Internet and email. It allows you to continue working with the computer in exactly the same way and is therefore highly practical for both office and home situations. Lunar Screen Magnifier's advanced technology means that even on high magnification, text and images remain smooth, clear and easily readable. Further clarification of activity on-screen is available thanks to strong, high contrast colours. Simply choose what works best for you. LunarPlus with added speech LunarPlus Enhanced Screen Magnifier offers people with a visual impairment the same invaluable features as Lunar Screen Magnifier but with the added advantage of speech output. Any text on screen is read out so not only you can check for accuracy as you type in documents or emails but you can also hear information on menus and web pages.
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MAGic helps people with low vision view information on their computer screen while hearing it through their speech synthesizer. MAGic combines state of the art magnification features with a true low vision speech option. The software magnifies screen information, from one to 16 times its normal size.
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The MAGic 9.50 software can be downloaded from this page.
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Information about the Magnus screen enlarger provided by the screen reader website.
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WebbIE is a web browser for blind and visually-impaired people, especially those using screen readers. It is based on Microsoft's Internet Explorer to ensure that a maximum of sites work with it. It allows you access to the vast majority of webpages and tries to present all the information there simply and easily so you can explore and use the web fully.
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A selection of screen magnification software downloads for multiple platforms. Some are demonstration copies and others are fully functioning versions of freeware and shareware.
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Microsoft overview on their screen magnification software.