Work-related question re: computer work

[SeaSpray]

100% of my new job (been there about 7 months now) is done on a computer. The job consists of me having to be looking at the computer screen continuously, while speaking to customers on the phone.

The company is planning to change their current OS to Windows 8.

Many of us (on Windows XP) change the font size so that we can see the information on our screens; most of it is text-based, and during the course of our conversations with customers we are dealing with a lot of numbers and information that we need to be sure is accurate.

I already wear glasses, with progressive lenses, so that I'm able to clearly see distance, reading, and everything in between.

A couple of weeks ago they moved us around so that we were sitting at different desks. The desk that I was assigned to had the new Windows 8 on it. When I changed the font size the programs that I use for work weren't changed in the same way as on WindowsXP; the font became larger but the text itself was thinner, and also it made the software that we use for work too large for the screen and I couldn't scroll or text down through the fields.

I also went home with a bad headache after trying to work on that computer for only 2 hours, and the headache lasted a day and a half.

So in the meantime, I'm back at my old desk, and they plan on making sure that I'm seated at desks with WindowsXP.

However, they said that they plan to change ALL of the computers over to Windows 8. When I asked the supervisor what the other ladies who change to the larger font and I are supposed to do at that point, she basically said "you'll have to deal with it".

I know that there are laws for people with disabilities, to be accomodated at work, but would the company also have to make accomodations for someone who wears glasses, but still needs the font to be a bit larger?? I really hate problems and issues at work, but there's no way that I can do my job with the screen/text looking like that. This isn't a matter of preference of one OS versus another, it has to do with my vision and the headaches that I get when I can't see a computer screen clearly.

Anyone have experience with this type of work situation??

P.S. They have already had their IT department try all kinds of things on Windows 8, to try to get the font larger while keeping the size of the software that we use at the right size. So far, no good. Everything they've tried is not working.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

100% of my new job (been there about 7 months now) is done on a computer. The job consists of me having to be looking at the computer screen continuously, while speaking to customers on the phone.

The company is planning to change their current OS to Windows 8.

Many of us (on Windows XP) change the font size so that we can see the information on our screens; most of it is text-based, and during the course of our conversations with customers we are dealing with a lot of numbers and information that we need to be sure is accurate.

I already wear glasses, with progressive lenses, so that I'm able to clearly see distance, reading, and everything in between.

A couple of weeks ago they moved us around so that we were sitting at different desks. The desk that I was assigned to had the new Windows 8 on it. When I changed the font size the programs that I use for work weren't changed in the same way as on WindowsXP; the font became larger but the text itself was thinner, and also it made the software that we use for work too large for the screen and I couldn't scroll or text down through the fields.

I also went home with a bad headache after trying to work on that computer for only 2 hours, and the headache lasted a day and a half.

So in the meantime, I'm back at my old desk, and they plan on making sure that I'm seated at desks with WindowsXP.

However, they said that they plan to change ALL of the computers over to Windows 8. When I asked the supervisor what the other ladies who change to the larger font and I are supposed to do at that point, she basically said "you'll have to deal with it".

I know that there are laws for people with disabilities, to be accomodated at work, but would the company also have to make accomodations for someone who wears glasses, but still needs the font to be a bit larger?? I really hate problems and issues at work, but there's no way that I can do my job with the screen/text looking like that. This isn't a matter of preference of one OS versus another, it has to do with my vision and the headaches that I get when I can't see a computer screen clearly.

Anyone have experience with this type of work situation??

P.S. They have already had their IT department try all kinds of things on Windows 8, to try to get the font larger while keeping the size of the software that we use at the right size. So far, no good. Everything they've tried is not working.

If I'm not mistaken, you can get magnifiers that fit over your screen. Perhaps that would make the font bigger without changing the style of the font? Might be something to look into?

 

[lastminutemom]

Speak to your ophthalmologist. my husband has glasses that are just for when he works on the computer. He wears them for nothing else. See if something like that might help. (He literally leaves them by his computer.)

 

[Lynne M]

It sounds to me as if the software you use for your job isn't quite compatible with Win 8. I would think fully compatible applications would scale font display properly. I don't use Win 8 myself, so hopefully others will come along with some helpful suggestions on things you can try to make it better.

It's possible that they plan to upgrade the software you work with once everyone's got Win 8 installed. Getting Windows upgraded would be the necessary first step. In other words, this may be a temporary problem - the font display will get better once they upgrade the rest of the programs you use.

They're not going to be able to keep you on Win XP indefinitely - it's at least a 10 year old operating system, and Microsoft is ending support for it in April of next year.

 

[ashley23]

Right click the desktop, select screen resolution. There is an option called make the text on your screen larger or smaller.

There is an option to just increase everything which includes icons and such. There is also a choice to change just the text size in a specific area such as menus, title bar, etc.

If that is good enough, you can override the DPI settings and set a custom scale that fits your exact needs. It also has a checkbox to use, you guessed it, Windows XP scaling. You should be able to mimic your XP settings with Windows 8.

 

[sksjasams]

Right click the desktop, select screen resolution. There is an option called make the text on your screen larger or smaller.

There is an option to just increase everything which includes icons and such. There is also a choice to change just the text size in a specific area such as menus, title bar, etc.

If that is good enough, you can override the DPI settings and set a custom scale that fits your exact needs. It also has a checkbox to use, you guessed it, Windows XP scaling. You should be able to mimic your XP settings with Windows 8.

I agree...you may be able to get it to look very similar to Windows XP. We switched to Windows 7 at work. My desktop and apps look just like they did before. From control panel, I went to personalization. And then under 'basic and high contrast themes', I chose Windows Classic. That was enough for me. I don't think I changed anything else. There is the option to go: control panel, display, and then change text size to small, medium or large. Maybe these options are available on Windows 8?

Good luck!

 

[TheIncredibles!]

100% of my new job (been there about 7 months now) is done on a computer. The job consists of me having to be looking at the computer screen continuously, while speaking to customers on the phone.

The company is planning to change their current OS to Windows 8.

Many of us (on Windows XP) change the font size so that we can see the information on our screens; most of it is text-based, and during the course of our conversations with customers we are dealing with a lot of numbers and information that we need to be sure is accurate.

I already wear glasses, with progressive lenses, so that I'm able to clearly see distance, reading, and everything in between.

A couple of weeks ago they moved us around so that we were sitting at different desks. The desk that I was assigned to had the new Windows 8 on it. When I changed the font size the programs that I use for work weren't changed in the same way as on WindowsXP; the font became larger but the text itself was thinner, and also it made the software that we use for work too large for the screen and I couldn't scroll or text down through the fields.

I also went home with a bad headache after trying to work on that computer for only 2 hours, and the headache lasted a day and a half.

So in the meantime, I'm back at my old desk, and they plan on making sure that I'm seated at desks with WindowsXP.

However, they said that they plan to change ALL of the computers over to Windows 8. When I asked the supervisor what the other ladies who change to the larger font and I are supposed to do at that point, she basically said "you'll have to deal with it".

I know that there are laws for people with disabilities, to be accomodated at work, but would the company also have to make accomodations for someone who wears glasses, but still needs the font to be a bit larger?? I really hate problems and issues at work, but there's no way that I can do my job with the screen/text looking like that. This isn't a matter of preference of one OS versus another, it has to do with my vision and the headaches that I get when I can't see a computer screen clearly.

Anyone have experience with this type of work situation??

P.S. They have already had their IT department try all kinds of things on Windows 8, to try to get the font larger while keeping the size of the software that we use at the right size. So far, no good. Everything they've tried is not working.

Yes there are laws for people with disabilities, you are not disabled though. If you were disabled and your disability was a visual impairment you would not be working in a job that requires you to look at something all day. Much like a person in a wheelchair would not be working as a lifeguard.

Your place of work should not be required to do anything to help you out. Speak to your eye doctor. Try the screen magnifier mentioned. If neither of those options end up working for you then you need to find a job that does not require you to sit and look at something all day long.

 

[NotUrsula]

All of the above, plus the solution that is used most often at my workplace: a large monitor. If your monitor is large, the window will scale and so will the text.

At my workplace, 27"-30" monitors are commonly used by those employees who have vision problems. They are not particularly expensive if you don't need high resolution for images. If the company won't provide one, you could probably buy one yourself; it will be about the same cost as an extra pair of glasses, but you won't need to update it every year.

 

[SeaSpray]

If I'm not mistaken, you can get magnifiers that fit over your screen. Perhaps that would make the font bigger without changing the style of the font? Might be something to look into?

Thanks. If nothing else works I may have to try this.

Speak to your ophthalmologist. my husband has glasses that are just for when he works on the computer. He wears them for nothing else. See if something like that might help. (He literally leaves them by his computer.)

Thanks. I may have to get new glasses too.

It sounds to me as if the software you use for your job isn't quite compatible with Win 8. I would think fully compatible applications would scale font display properly. I don't use Win 8 myself, so hopefully others will come along with some helpful suggestions on things you can try to make it better.

It's possible that they plan to upgrade the software you work with once everyone's got Win 8 installed. Getting Windows upgraded would be the necessary first step. In other words, this may be a temporary problem - the font display will get better once they upgrade the rest of the programs you use.

They're not going to be able to keep you on Win XP indefinitely - it's at least a 10 year old operating system, and Microsoft is ending support for it in April of next year.

Thanks. The software that I use at work is fairly old. It looks very similar to a program that I used at my old job. I don't know whether they plan to upgrade it or not; I know that my old company was going to replace the program with an entirely new one, but then they caught by the SEC for running a Ponzi scheme.

Right click the desktop, select screen resolution. There is an option called make the text on your screen larger or smaller.

There is an option to just increase everything which includes icons and such. There is also a choice to change just the text size in a specific area such as menus, title bar, etc.

If that is good enough, you can override the DPI settings and set a custom scale that fits your exact needs. It also has a checkbox to use, you guessed it, Windows XP scaling. You should be able to mimic your XP settings with Windows 8.

Thanks! I'm excited to try this and see if it works with the software that we use!

I agree...you may be able to get it to look very similar to Windows XP. We switched to Windows 7 at work. My desktop and apps look just like they did before. From control panel, I went to personalization. And then under 'basic and high contrast themes', I chose Windows Classic. That was enough for me. I don't think I changed anything else. There is the option to go: control panel, display, and then change text size to small, medium or large. Maybe these options are available on Windows 8?

Good luck!

Thanks, I will try this as well!

Yes there are laws for people with disabilities, you are not disabled though. If you were disabled and your disability was a visual impairment you would not be working in a job that requires you to look at something all day. Much like a person in a wheelchair would not be working as a lifeguard.

Your place of work should not be required to do anything to help you out. Speak to your eye doctor. Try the screen magnifier mentioned. If neither of those options end up working for you then you need to find a job that does not require you to sit and look at something all day long.

This is true! Last night I was reading on the .gov web site about this. The crummy thing is that I need to work at a job such as this because of my RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and fibromyalgia. My doctors have been telling me that I would qualify for disability, but so far I've been able to totally avoid that. I do have a Disabled Parking placard, but there's a huge difference between that and feeling like there's no kind of work that I could do.

All of the above, plus the solution that is used most often at my workplace: a large monitor. If your monitor is large, the window will scale and so will the text.

At my workplace, 27"-30" monitors are commonly used by those employees who have vision problems. They are not particularly expensive if you don't need high resolution for images. If the company won't provide one, you could probably buy one yourself; it will be about the same cost as an extra pair of glasses, but you won't need to update it every year.

Thanks. I actually have a really nice large monitor at home that I never use; if they'd let me I'd be more than happy to bring it in.



Thanks everyone for all of the good ideas!!! I will definitely be trying to see if I can get Windows 8 to work with the software but at a larger resolution.

 

[SandrA9810]

Don't you just love how they like to fix what isn't broken?

It's rare, but there's still companies out there using DOS based programs, so running on XP isn't that old.