Kobo reader for people with bad eyesight?

[tshering]

I would really appreciate being given some control over the font size used in menus, message boxes and the like. It is really a pain if you have to use a magnifying glass in order to read a dictionary entry or to read the annotations.
Of course, Kobo has limited resources. And they have a lot of more urgent work to do, redesigning the sleep screen and what not. Therefore, I am not complaining. I just want to show those of you with the same problem what I have done to improve my situation.
Note: The device is a Kobo Touch (old model), FW 2.6.1.

You may want to describe what you did so that others can adapt their Kobo.

But yeah, stuff like this should be higher on the priority list for Kobo. It may not be the topmost priority given that they are a business and need to serve their market as best as possible. On the other hand, I can't see how the design of the sleep screen (or the continual redesign of the home screen) is more important than improving the device for people with lower vision.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

You may want to describe what you did so that others can adapt their Kobo.

But yeah, stuff like this should be higher on the priority list for Kobo. It may not be the topmost priority given that they are a business and need to serve their market as best as possible. On the other hand, I can't see how the design of the sleep screen (or the continual redesign of the home screen) is more important than improving the device for people with lower vision.

Nepotism is the only logical reason IMO.

Still in Kobo's defense, most ereaders do not have options to make the menus and options larger.

Helen

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Nepotism is the only logical reason IMO.

Still in Kobo's defense, most ereaders do not have options to make the menus and options larger.

How does nepotism apply here?

As for accessibility and software, that has always confused me. One of the great things about computers is that it's easy to make things accessible. It's not like books, especially in the olden days, when you'd have to typeset a separate large print edition and a braille edition and record an audiobook to address people with visual impairments and limited mobility. One file can address all of the above.

Alas, it is also a difficult battle to fight. I remember the early days of the web when people were doing funky things with images (sans alt tags) that screen readers and braille devices couldn't handle or when people were creating funky layouts that were hard for those assistive technologies found hard to follow. The solutions were simple and fast to implement, but people just didn't want to do so.

[Ripplinger]

I would love to find out how tshering changed the font size of the menu displays, too. Hopefully it was a real change to the device and not just edited images to show what we should be able to adjust for reading comfort for us poor-sighted folks.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Nepotism is the only logical reason IMO.

Still in Kobo's defense, most ereaders do not have options to make the menus and options larger.

Helen

True, but all the more reason Kobo should consider creating these options! What better way to stand out from the pack and potentially gain more market share?

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

How does nepotism apply here?

As for accessibility and software, that has always confused me. One of the great things about computers is that it's easy to make things accessible. It's not like books, especially in the olden days, when you'd have to typeset a separate large print edition and a braille edition and record an audiobook to address people with visual impairments and limited mobility. One file can address all of the above.

Alas, it is also a difficult battle to fight. I remember the early days of the web when people were doing funky things with images (sans alt tags) that screen readers and braille devices couldn't handle or when people were creating funky layouts that were hard for those assistive technologies found hard to follow. The solutions were simple and fast to implement, but people just didn't want to do so.

Nepotism could be keeping a less than stellar employee because they are related Probably not the case, but all I can think of in the way of an explanation.

And I agree that ereaders should and certainly could have more accessible menus. But most don't. Someone is losing out on a niche market of supplying special magnification sheets designed to fit ereaders. Or a stand at the right height. One does not have to use the menus that often, so it would be a viable option except for the very demanding.

Helen

[tshering]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

You may want to describe what you did so that others can adapt their Kobo.

Setting of font attributes is taken care of by libnickel.so.1.0.0 in CSS format. I opened the file in a binary editor and changed the values. I know this is a rather general description. But I think it gets anybody interested in doing it started.

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

One does not have to use the menus that often, so it would be a viable option except for the very demanding.

You are right, menus are not so much a problem, since they don't change much. Having looked at them with a magnifying glass once or twice, one recognizes those one uses on a regular basis by their position. The real problem are those things with constantly changing content, like the entries in the library and the dictionary.

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I would love to find out how tshering changed the font size of the menu displays, too. Hopefully it was a real change to the device and not just edited images to show what we should be able to adjust for reading comfort for us poor-sighted folks.

No, I didn't edit the images. However, I migth have conveyed the wrong impression that I changed the font size of all menus. This is not what I did. I only made changes to the dictionary screen, the book list in the library and the detail view of the annotations. I intended to change the font size of the annotations list too (as I did it for FW 2.4.0), but finally forgot about it. Now I am waiting for FW 2.6.1b before I do further changes. As said with regard to the FW 2.4.0 version, I am willing to share the modified file.

[Ripplinger]

Well I looked at the file and I don't have a clue what to edit in it to change just the font display sizes since it's all pretty much gibberish. Could you attach your 2.4.0 version please to a post? And then I could do a compare to the standard file, and then hopefully muddle through the changes on 2.5.1 firmware.

[TechniSol]

Wouldn't you think that if there was a way of controlling the size of the text for those functions the KoboKoders would have adjusted the fonts for those functions based on the font size chosen for text? At least made them larger if you were displaying text above a certain font size... Ah well, par for the course.

Originally Posted by TechniSol

Wouldn't you think that if there was a way of controlling the size of the text for those functions the KoboKoders would have adjusted the fonts for those functions based on the font size chosen for text? At least made them larger if you were displaying text above a certain font size... Ah well, par for the course.

I'm guessing that Kobo provides font resizing for books is because the text is reflowable. This is different from the UI, where things can get messed up if the text is resized. (A bit of that is evident in the pictures, but there are far more extreme cases.)

Still, they could test a few sizes (e.g. normal, medium, large) to assist people with varying degrees of vision.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Well I looked at the file and I don't have a clue what to edit in it to change just the font display sizes since it's all pretty much gibberish. Could you attach your 2.4.0 version please to a post? And then I could do a compare to the standard file, and then hopefully muddle through the changes on 2.5.1 firmware.

Please, check your PMs.

[tshering]

I have now also a modified file for FW 2.5.1. The changes concern the font size of the dictionary entries, the annotation list, the annotation details, the authors and book titles of the book list in the library. If someone likes to have a copy, let me know. Changes are made only for Touch and Glow.

[Anak]

Interesting, maybe you could open a firmware mod thread in the Developer's Corner where you describe/explain/show it in more detail?

[Anak]

Originally Posted by tshering

I have now also a modified file for FW 2.5.1. The changes concern the font size of the dictionary entries, the annotation list, the annotation details, the authors and book titles of the book list in the library. If someone likes to have a copy, let me know. Changes are made only for Touch and Glow.

As anyone found more hacks like these?
Is it possible to adjust the viewport of the RMSDK to reduce the bottom footer in reading mode?
Bottom footer in reading mode: showing only page numbers
Bottom footer in menu mode: access to font settings, bookmarks etc.