Other Tech Tips:

[Top]

If you’re having trouble making out the information in a particular view, you can customize that view and increase the size of the font displayed.

Using the Mouse: Begin by opening the view you want to customize. Now, select View | Current View | Customize Current View from the Menu bar to open the View Summary dialog box. Next, click the Other Settings button to the formatting dialog box. The name and layout of the dialog box varies depending on the current view. However, the basics remain the same for all. Click the appropriate Font button and select the size you want to use. Then click OK to close the dialog box and return to the View Summary dialog box. Click OK to save your changes and return to the current view.
Note: You can also access the View Summary dialog box by right clicking a column header in a table view (or a blank spot in a card  view), and selecting Customize Current View.

Using the Keyboard: Press Alt to activate the menu bar, then press V to display the View menu, V (again) to display the views submenu, and finally, C to display the View Summary dialog box. Now, press O to open the “formatting” dialog box (the name depends on the current view). Use the Tab key to move to the desired Font button, and press Enter to display the Font dialog box. Use the Tab key to move to the Size field and either type a new field size or use the Up and Down arrow keys to make a selection from the list. Press Enter to save the new setting and return to the ”formatting” dialog box. Repeat the process for all Fonts you want to ajust, then press Enter to close the “formatting” dialog box and again to close the View Summary dialog box.

The Outlook toolbars, while handy, can be somewhat difficult to make out, especially for those with vision problems. The easiest way to resolve the problem is to increase the size of the buttons:

 Using the Mouse: Right click anywhere on the Menu bar or one of the toolbars, and select Customize from the shortcut menu that appears, to open the Customize dialog box (Tip: double clicking a blank spot on a toolbar also opens the Customize dialog box). Click the Options tab and then click the Large icons option to add a check mark, which turns the option on. Click Close to save the change and return to the active document.
  
Using the Keyboard: Press Alt, then T, then C to open the Customize dialog box. Then press O to display the Options tab. Next, press Alt+L to enable the Large icons option. Finally, press Enter to save the changes and return to the active window.

To reduce the size of the toolbar buttons repeat the above steps.

If you find the toolbar button icons to be somewhat confusing, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there’s a way to eliminate that confusion. Simply add text to each button icon, or if you find the icons to be an unnecessary nusisance, replace them with text:

Using the Mouse: Double click a blank spot on a toolbar to  open the Customize dialog box, and click the Commands tab to display the commands options. With the Customize dialog box open, right click the toolbar button to which you want to add text. From the shortcut menu that appears, select Text Only to replace the icon with text, or Image and Text to add text to the existing icon. Repeat for each button. To close the dialog box and return to Word, click the Close button.

Using the Keyboard: Press Alt, then T, then C to open the Customize dialog box. Next, press Alt+C to display the Commands tab. The next step, unfortunately, requires using the mouse. Select the toolbar button to which you want to add text. Now, press Alt+M to display the shortcut menu of options. Press T to replace the toolbar icon with text, or press A to add text to the existing icon. Repeat the process for each button. When you’re finished, press Enter to return to Outlook.

[Top]