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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">There are certainly no objective tests for font magnification quality in the web accessibility world. It’s possible that there are some such tests in other professions, but even if you find them
you would need to work out how to apply them to websites.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Even if you have ClearType turned on in Windows, it is turned off automatically when ZoomText starts. I don’t know if other magnification software does that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">As mentioned in my previous email, the xFont smoothing for Internet Explorer is much better than the geometric smoothing for Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Your screenshots show that very clearly, and
it’s what I would expect. What magnification software are you using?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Internet Explorer 11 will be retired in June 2022, at which time it will redirect to Edge, so you can still use it for another year. There are a few exceptions, such as Windows 7 and 8.1, which will
still run Internet Explorer after that because you can’t install Edge on them. Edge will have an “Internet Explorer 11 mode”, but I don’t know if this will behave like Edge or Internet Explorer with regard to font magnification.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Steve<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> athen-list <athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark Weiler<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 24 May 2021 21:25<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list@u.washington.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] [EXTERNAL *] Re: Assessing quality of magnified text?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Hi Steve,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Are you certain there are no tests? That could really leave the door wide open for just about any degraded font to get by since there’s no basis to say it’s unacceptable. Perhaps optometrist have developed a suite of
standards tests that could be used to define an accessible font magnification behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I believe I had ClearFont turned on. Perhaps though I’m missing something configurable.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I don’t have low vision but when I checked with Internet Explorer, it seems vastly better than Chrome or Edge! See the embedded images. The first one is from Internet Explorer and the font is easily perceivable, like
perfectly formed braille dots. The second image from Chrome or Edge, I can’t recall which one, communicates like Braille on light sandpaper.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I believe Internet Explorer will no longer be shipped with Windows 10.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Internet Explorer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img width="936" height="459" style="width:9.75in;height:4.7812in" id="Picture_x0020_10" src="cid:image001.png@01D750F4.9391FEE0"></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Chrome or Edge (both were like this one)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img width="1016" height="557" style="width:10.5833in;height:5.802in" id="Picture_x0020_11" src="cid:image002.png@01D750F4.9391FEE0"></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu">athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Steve Green<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 21, 2021 2:29 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [EXTERNAL *] Re: [Athen] Assessing quality of magnified text?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You won’t be able to do a test and apply the results generally. It will depend on the nature and severity of each person’s visual condition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is more to magnification and font smoothing than most people are probably aware of. I am no expert, but I did a little research last year and sent the following message to my team. Apologies for the repeated mention of my company
– this was an internal email that I didn’t expect to share publicly.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When using ZoomText and Windows, there are at least 3 different types of font smoothing, so it is important that you understand them. The following is my current understanding, but there may be even more to it than this. In particular,
these notes only refer to websites, not desktop applications or Windows itself.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>ClearType<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is the native font smoothing that is built into Windows, and it is turned on by default. You will find it under Settings > Personalisation > Fonts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="774" height="420" style="width:8.0625in;height:4.375in" id="_x0000_i1033" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="A screenshot of a cell phone
Description automatically generated"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ZoomText automatically turns ClearType off when it launches, but ClearType is not turned back on when ZoomText closes. The following screenshots show the same text with ClearType turned on and off.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="598" height="84" style="width:6.2291in;height:.875in" id="_x0000_i1032" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="A close up of a logo
Description automatically generated"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="598" height="84" style="width:6.2291in;height:.875in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="A close up of a logo
Description automatically generated"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>ZoomText font smoothing<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ZoomText uses two different types of font smoothing (xFont and Geometric) depending on the browser. These are controlled via the ZoomText > Preferences > Smoothing dialog.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="462" height="313" style="width:4.8125in;height:3.2604in" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image006.jpg@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="A screenshot of a cell phone
Description automatically generated"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="447" height="545" style="width:4.6562in;height:5.677in" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image007.jpg@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="A screenshot of a cell phone
Description automatically generated"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>xFont Magnification<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">xFont Magnification is used for Internet Explorer and results in extremely smooth characters, assuming the font is supported.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="1000" height="562" style="width:10.4166in;height:5.8541in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image008.png@01D750F4.9391FEE0"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Geometric Smoothing<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Geometric Smoothing is used for Chrome and Firefox and results in a “wobbly” outline to the text.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="1000" height="562" style="width:10.4166in;height:5.8541in" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image009.png@01D750F4.9391FEE0"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Steve Green<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Managing Director<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Test Partners Ltd<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu">athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark Weiler<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 21 May 2021 17:36<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Athen] Assessing quality of magnified text?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Does anyone know of quality assurance testing to determine whether magnified font is usable by people with low vision who require magnification?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Here are two magnified texts that have differences.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img border="0" width="899" height="379" style="width:9.3645in;height:3.9479in" id="Picture_x0020_8" src="cid:image010.png@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="The word public that is very readable. Like very readable Braille."></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img border="0" width="892" height="393" style="width:9.2916in;height:4.0937in" id="Picture_x0020_9" src="cid:image011.png@01D750F4.9391FEE0" alt="The word public that is has blurry edges. I imagine it's a bit like readable Braille on sandpaper. "></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">*
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This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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