HowTo: Make Text More Accessible in Firefox and KDE [Using Suse as an Example]

Summary: This tutorial outlines how to set desktop fonts for KDE and Firefox quickly.  It is not much dependent on the Linux distribution because KDE and Firefox are fairly uniform across distributions.


Introduction:

Winge: As an older newbie I had difficulty seeing the default fonts, even with my glasses,  when using KDE & Firefox. This is particularly bad in Suse 10.0. I wonder if the programming for 10.0 was done by kids with 20-20 vision and typical youthful insight. I have checked contemporary distributions of Mandriva, Debian and Fedora, which aren't too bad, and Suse 10.1 has improved. Windows is always excellent in this regard - makes you wonder, doesn't it - must have something do do with the client-server (i.e. commercial) outlook.
Anyway: This HowTo shows the results of much searching for the "right" places to adjust fonts. Of course, there are no "right places" or "best" font sizes. Here I simply outline some quick ways to adjust fonts more or less across the board that worked for me. Maybe this will save some other newbies some time. Also, since Microsoft fonts are so good, the Tutorial covers installing them in your Linux distro [be sure you respect licensing requirements!]

For Kde:

Open control panel/AKA personal settings on the Menu Ladder. Click the search tab. Use the search word "font".

Highlight "font" in top panel & "file manager" in lower panel. Change font size to suit [I used 13].

Highlight "fonts" in top panel & the first occurrence of  "fonts" in lower panel. Select "adjust all fonts".Tick "size". Select a size to suit [I used 12].

Highlight "fonts" in top panel & the second occurrence of  "fonts" in lower panel. Move sliders to suit. [I used 12 for "minimum" and 13 for "medium"].

For Firefox (& Mozilla):

Go Edit-->Preferences-->Fonts and colours

1. Adjust "Display Resolution" to suit [I used 96 dpi].
2. Adjust "pixel size" in two places to suit [I used 13 & 13].
3. Adjust "minimum font size" to suit [I used 13].

There were lots of things I couldn't get to alter. If you have extra tips, please email them to me so I can add them for others [& me].

Microsoft True Type Fonts TTF:

If you own a Windows licence, the true type fonts can be found in XP: \windows\fonts; 2000: \winnt\fonts; 98: \windows\fonts. Copy the folder and , keep within your copy any True Type fonts (*.TTF). Install them using the KDE control panel. This goes by different names in different distros; e.g. in Suse it's called "personal settings". Anyway, open "personal settings" and make your way to the Font Installer [you could shorten the walk by putting "font" in the search bar]. Then for system-wide fonts use administrator mode, or for personal use don't use admin mode, and let font-installer take you to where your TTF folder is, and Bob's your uncle.

I don't recommend any particular font types or sizes.

Further Action: My article is "quick and easy". If you really want to go into special fonts not generally enabled/available in some Linux distributions, here are two articles to start you off:

Optimal Use of fonts on SuSE      and     Open Suse Wiki on True Type fonts.

I also recommend that you type this into the Google search bar: "distro-name [e.g. mandriva] adjust system desktop fonts".

Cheers
Swerdna