Control Text Size in Safari

Modify the Safari Tool Bar to Control Text Size

Safari's ability to render text puts it ahead of most web browsers. It faithfully follows a web site's style sheets or embedded HTML text height tags. This means that Safari consistently displays pages as their designers intended, which isn't always a good thing. There's no way for a web designer to know what size monitor a site visitor has, or how good their vision is.

If you're like me, you might sometimes wish a web site's text was just a little bit bigger. I occasionally misplace my reading glasses; sometimes, even with my glasses, the default type size is just too small. A quick click of the mouse brings everything back into perspective.

Changing Text Size Via the Menu

1. Select the Safari View menu to see the available options for altering text size.
   
   
   • Make Text Bigger. This menu option increases text size in small increments each time you select it.
     
     
   • Make Text Normal Size. This is a new option in Safari 3.0 and later. It allows you to return to a web site's original text size.
     
     
   • Make Text Smaller. This menu option decreases text size in small increments each time you select it.
     
     
2. Make your selection from the View menu.

Change Text Size From the Keyboard

• Command + + To increase text size using your keyboard, simultaneously press and hold the command key (the key with the cloverleaf symbol) and the plus (+) key.
  
  
• Command + 0 To return to a page's default text size, simultaneously press and hold the command key and the 0 (zero) key.
  
  
• Command + - To decrease text size, simultaneously press and hold the command key and the minus (-) key.
  
  

Add Text Buttons to Safari’s Toolbar

I tend to forget many keyboard shortcuts, so when I have the option to add equivalent buttons to an application's toolbar, I generally take advantage of it. It's easy to add text control buttons to Safari's toolbar.

1. Right-click anywhere in the Safari toolbar and select ‘Customize Toolbar’ from the pop-up menu.
   
   
2. A list of toolbar icons (buttons) will display.
   
   
3. Click and drag the 'Text Size' icon to the toolbar. You can place the icon anywhere in the toolbar that you find convenient.
   
   
4. Place the 'Text Size' icon in its target location by releasing the mouse button.
   
   
5. Click the ‘Done’ button.
   
   

The next time you come across a web site with painfully small text, just click on the 'Text Size' button to increase it.