What is built in magnification?
Screen magnification is a type of assistive technology for people with sight loss who have useful vision. It increases the size of the content on the screen to make it easier to read.
A screen magnifier has been built into Windows and Mac OS for many years. The Windows feature is called Magnifier, while the Mac OS one is called Zoom.
In addition to built in magnification, which is quite basic, you can get software packages with additional capabilities, for example ZoomText.
Have a look at this Mac vs. Windows 7: Zooming in on the Computer Screen video to gain an over view of the in built magnification features.
Both inbuilt Windows and Mac magnification incorporate the following features:
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Colour inversion - This allows you to invert the colours on a computer screen. For example, you can change the text view to black-on-white to white-on-black.
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Text smoothing - Text can become blocky and harder to recognize when enlarged but using a magnifier with text smoothing will help compensate for this.
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Cursor Customisation - The mouse and text cursors can be modified to help the user locate it on the screen.
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Different Magnification Modes - Screen magnifiers can alter how they present the enlarged area of the screen: covering the full screen, providing a lens that is moved around the un-magnified screen, or using a fixed magnified portion.
Zoom on the Mac
As a Mac user, I find the in built zoom to be very useful. I like the way I am able to use a quick keyboard short cut to start and end the magnification as and when I need it.
I have the magnification window set so I can click to move it around, so it is in one set place. Usually this is handy if I am typing to someone in a Skype conversation or over Facebook where I only desire a small amount of the screen to be enlarged.
I prefer this type of magnification because I can find it disorientating and difficult to navigate when the entire screen is enlarged. But this is only a personal preference. I can see how full screen magnification may be preferable for others.
Here's how you can open and customise the built in magnification features on a Mac:
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Either use the keyboard combination Option-Command-8, or go to System Preferences, Universal Access, and on the Seeing tab, check the On box in the Zoom section:.
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To zoom in, hit Option-Command -Equals, or useOption-Command-Minus to zoom back out.
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If you'd rather use a magnifying lens than zoom the entire screen, check the box next to Zoom in window"
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All done zooming? Then click Off in the Zoom section, or tap Option -Command-8 again.
If you have a Mac with a track pad then you are able to use a gesture to operate a separate zoom feature. By pinching two fingers on the track pad you are able to zoom in and zoom out of the screen, this applies to web pages as well as with other content on the screen.
You can also operate an alternative track pad gesture by holding down the Control key, then drag two fingers up the track pad. You can activate this gesture by: Opening System Preferences, Select Keyboard and Mouse, Select Track Pad, and Enable "Zoom while holding Control".
For more information visit Apple's Accessibility web pages.
Magnifier on Windows
I use a Windows PC both at work and at home. Occasionally I will use the Windows Magnifier. I tend to rely on Zoom Text for magnification. This is because I leave it running in the back ground and I can turn it on and off as and when I need it. It is not possible to turn magnifier on and off without closing and reopening the programme which is a little inconvenient for a magnification user like me who might not wish to use it all the time.
Only with Windows 7 is full screen magnification possible. Windows Help and Support Centre on your computer has a wide range of advice on how to customize and change the preference settings of the Magnifier.
Here's how you can open and customise the built in magnification features on Windows:
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On Windows XP, open the Windows Start Menu, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility and click Magnifier.
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Then use the drop down menu titled 'Magnification Level' and select from numbers 1 - 9 (1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest) to change the level of magnification on the screen.
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On Windows 7, press WindowsKey-Plus.
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Then use WindowsKey-Plus and WindowsKey-Minus to change the level of magnication, or click the floating magnifying glass icon and then click the + or - buttons.
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On Windows 7, Magnifier has three modes: full screen, lens which lets you drag a square magnification lens across the screen, and docked, which opens a slim magnification window that's docked at the top of the desktop.
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To turn off Magnifier, Windows 7 users can press WindowsKey-Escape, while Windows XP users should press the 'x' in the corner of the 'Magnifier Settings' box.
With regards to the video we posted a link to at the top of the article Mac vs. Windows 7: Zooming in on the Computer Screen it should be noted that the keyboard short cut listed above is the quickest way to open Magnifier as opposed to the slightly longer way of opening it through the programmes menu, as is displayed in the video.
There is more information on the Microsoft Accessibility web pages.
Conclusions
Personally I find Zoom on the Mac to be very reliable and easy to work with. I also think that Magnifier on Windows does not support smooth text scrolling as well as Zoom when accessing text at a high level. I find this makes the letters look very pixelated and makes things appear quite blurry.
It is important to remember that screen magnification is primarily about preference, simply put, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. If you are interested in purchasing a machine with a high level of inbuilt accessibility then my recommendation would be to purchase a Mac.
Have you had a particularly good experience with using Zoom or Magnifier? If you have anything you would like to share based on your own experience then please get in touch.
For further reading on the subject you might like to check out an article on low vision accessibility. The Bigger Picture: A Comparative Review of Magnifier for Windows 7 and Zoom for Mac OS
If you happen to be a long term PC user with an interest in using a Mac but don't quite know where to start, you might like to have a look at this PC to Mac: The Basics video.
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