Red eyes, blurry vision and stuff like that

It hits most people some time in their 40s – the gradual loss of focus flexibility.  For people who have never needed glasses for long distance when younger, it usually means a shocking moment of truth when you realise you just can’t focus on stuff up close like you used to.  Not wanting to succumb to wearing specs, there are other ways of helping out your vision, some more successful than others…

The ergonomics of  computer work used to be assessed very carefully.  That was in the days of fixed font sizes on the screen, small screens, and rigidly fixed computer workstations. If you couldn’t see the detail, there was little you could do. These days, with much better graphics, with large wide screens, with thin displays giving more options for screen placement, with greater laptop use with its more flexible arranging of computer and screen,  the hard and fast rules of previous years are able to be bent a little. There are even ways to get around having to have clear vision (though they may not work for long sessions at the screen)…

• Get a bigger screen.  I’m surprised by the number of people I see who say ‘I was having some problems but then I got a bigger screen…’
• Keyboard (more for two finger hunt and stab typists than the rest of us): you can get stick-on larger letters for your keys if they are a bit hard to see.  Upside – easier to see the letters.  Downside – everyone else can see that you can’t see.
• Windows/ Operating System: Display properties can be changed to increase the font size for windows titles, labels etc.
• Browser/ Email program: View settings can be changed to increase text size.
• Word Processor: (1) You can set the font size to large while you are typing, and just reduce it before printing.  Simple, but less useful for a number of reasons than option (2)…
• Word Processor: (2) Increase the zoom level – zoom in for typing.  Zoom works better than (1), because it lets you work with documents with multiple font sizes, and the layout of the page is preserved.   Also you don’t have to reset the zoom level back before printing.

What about things not on screen that are getting hard to see – phone book, ingredients list? If turning up the lighting doesn’t fix the problem, and you’re really stuck -

• Use online sources (with the text blown up big) where possible – phone books are online remember.
• Use a digital camera/ mobile phone camera to take a photo – and then use the zoom function on your camera to increase the sized text.

Using the above techniques, you just might be able to stave off the inevitable by a year, or 2, or 3.

When you think you may need to think about some computer specs, here are some things to think about.