I finally figured out how to override those nasty, tiny, fixed-point size fonts in Internet Explorer. (I bitched about them before.) Although it seems trivial, I’m posting this tip because these tiny fonts are, for some inexplicable reason, very popular right now. This despite the fact that they’re very hard to read. Internet Explorer has a useful Text Size feature that lets you adjust font sizes, but it becomes mysteriously impotent if the Web designer has specified an absolute point size, like 6 or 8.
That is, unless you do this: select Tools, Internet Options, and click on Accessibility. Then put a check mark in the box labeled: Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages. Click OK until you’re back to the screen, and voila — adjustable, readable fonts, no matter what the page designer says about it. So it screws up the layout on some sites? Too bad. Next time use a design that accommodates different screen sizes, bub.
While you’re in those Accessibility settings, you can also tell IE to ignore background colors. I found this useful in reading the RIAA web site, which puts all its text in blue on a black background. Very hip, but totally unreadable.
