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The Palm operating system has only a few options for changing the user interface.
In the main Palm PIM applications (Diary, Address book, memo and To Do list) the user has the choice of displaying the main text (not the menu text or labels/buttons for text fields) in three font sizes standard, bold and large.
There are no native methods to change the size, style or colour of fonts throughout the entire operating system. However, there are many third party options for doing this. Just paste 'Palm' into Google to see exactly how many.
The palm operating system also provides no way to change the colours used within the graphical user interface. So it is essential for a user who requires magnification, colour and font changes plus other accessibility options to become acquainted with the third party software developer options, and in some cases additional accessories that may improve usability.
The standard Palm screen has resolution of 160 x 160 pixels, though some models such as the Palm Tungsten have a higher resolution of 320x 320 pixels. The Life Drive features a 480 x 320 pixel screen. All now have colour screens.
For those with a visual impairment colour screens are often much clearer as they emit more light and often have reflective displays. Monochrome screens were more susceptible to the problems of glare and the reflection from environmental lighting. Monochrome screens also used backlighting which is less effective than front or side lighting that is used more often by colour screen PDAs.
In testing various models of colour and monochrome devices it was found that in variable lighting or insufficient lighting conditions colour screen devices give a clear display as monochrome displays worked will in good lighting or complete darkness.
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This is a simple on screen magnifier, which has two modes, full screen magnification and a half screen mode.
In the full screen mode, the whole screen is used to show the magnified area. Since the resolution is at double size, one quarter of the screen display can be seen at any time. The magnified area can be moved by tapping the screen and re-centring the view. In half screen mode a magnified window is displayed at either the top or the bottom of the screen showing a rectangular portion of the screen magnified.
The program is operated by using the silkscreen 'Find' key, there are no options for the zoom control. The program works with both colour and monochrome devices and will also work in colour devices using 4 and 16-shade greyscale modes.
The program has one disadvantage, which is that while the magnification is active the screen touch sensitivity functionality is not. Meaning that the magnifier can only be used to magnify the screen image and the user is then unable to navigate or operate the PDA in the magnified mode. The magnifier could be compared to Windows Magnify program. However, it should be noted that you can use the PDAs hardware buttons to scroll around the screen.
This program does not appear to work on Palm devices running a high-resolution screen (320x 320 pixels) such as the Sony Clie series.
There is one other screen magnifier called ZoomThis, but this program's functionality does not compare to TealLens - it is not considered user friendly and has only one magnifying view.
This Palm extension application allows the user to change the orientation of the screen so that the PDA can be viewed on either side or upside-down. This application is especially useful if you intend to use an infrared keyboard using a PDA with the infrared port located at the top.
This application does not appear to work to well in High-resolution screens (320 x 320) such as Sony Clie series.
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Graphical User Interfaces use colour to display information or to distinguish between information. The use of colour can both help and hinder those with specific learning difficulties and visual impairments. Users who have problems distinguishing between colours (colour blindness) would benefit from being able to change the colour and contrast of the GUI. The ability to change the background colour of the display (on colour devices) can aid readability of text displays as the standard white background when combined with black text tends to make some comment on the 'glare' or feeling of discomfort that occurs after a short time of reading.
Many people with dyslexia find the use of cream, pale blue or green as helpful colours and those with visual impairment often choose bright yellow text on royal or dark blue. The amount of light available to the coloured background can also make a difference and having back or front-lit screens can affect the clarity of text.
Butterfly (Shareware)
This application allow users to change the colour of most individual GUI components such as the screen background colour, menu text colour, (non)-editable text field colours etc). The application provides an extensive set of options to change the colours of the GUI, including the chance to reduce colour to colour depth to 1, 2, 4 and 8 bit. It should be noted that the application runs at a maximum of 8-bit (or 256 colours) which might decrease the clarity of a colour image on colour devices that can run at 16-bit (65,536 colours). The user can also save themes of colours to be recalled later. This program appears to offer the most for users who find they have to change colours in different settings.
Backdrop
(colour and monochrome) (Shareware)
This program allows users to place an 8Bit colour image (or b/w image on a monochrome screen) as a background to most of the Palm applications. It has an option to make a transparency of the background image and a small choice of colours for the foreground colour. The program allows you to select which applications are excluded from showing the background image.
Colorize lets you select from several color themes. You can also
export color themes to Memopad and edit them (or beam them to other people) and
import color themes from Memopad.
Colorize works on any color device with Palm OS 3.5 through OS 5.3 (including
Palm Tungsten devices such as the T3).
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Many users find that the text on a PDA is too small and cramped. Those with specific learning difficulties and dyslexia often like particular fonts and prefer to have wider spacing between each character. Those with visual impairment may find that making text bold helps and increasing line spacing.
FontHack-123 (Freeware)
This program allows the user to change the font used by most applications. Changes can be made individually for each program or throughout the operating system. In the main four Palm PIM applications (Date Book, Address Book, To Do list and Memo Pad) you can specify which font is used for each of the three default font sizes (standard, bold and large). In native Palm applications the changes to the bold font will also affect the menu font. But beware changes made to the operating system font or by FontHack for an individual application can have unusual effects and may cause the device to crash. You should be careful when choosing fonts to use as they may have a different width value from the standard font that may cause text in menus or buttons not to be fully displayed. In applications such as an eBook reader more exotic fonts with differing width values can be more successfully used. In fact, with a little time, each application can be fine tuned to suit the user.
The font database TallFontsNew used throughout the Palm operating system can add readability, as the font is slightly taller than the standard font and it is felt that it is slightly clearer to read.
For use in an eBook reader for example, a font such as Architect can increase the texts readability for those with dyslexia as this font has letters that are more spaced than the standard and a clear letter style.
Font Bucket (Freeware)
This application can only be used in the following other programs To Do PLUS, ThoughtManager, Memo PLUS, QuickOffice, SilverScreen and Mark/Space Mail.
The software allows the user to select a font, which will be projected by the supporting application as the standard font in the main text area of the application (i.e. the writing in QuickOffice word processor). This program does not offer all the functions of FontHack but is relatively stable.
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Users who are lefthanded often find they are restricted to scrolling text on the right hand side of the screen with their hand blocking the view of the text they wish to read. Toolbars often have menus that can only be reached by crossing over the screen - this type of problem does not occur so much on a computer but can make life difficult when using a PDA. The programs available to make changes are not entirely successful as will be seen below.
Lefty (Freeware)
This simple application allows the user to declare they are left-handed to the operating system. Programs that have been designed to acknowledge this declaration can normally change their GUI accordingly - however this is purely an optional and programmers may not code their programs to work with this piece of freeware. .
LeftHack (Shareware)
This Palm extension allows the user to move most scrollbars over to the left edge of the screen. The Up/Down buttons in the pop up-keyboard and Tips screens are also moved over the left. This program solves some of the most pressing problems but sadly not all the interface issues linked with drop down menus where the left hand often covers half the screen as the choices are made.
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Onscreen controls available to Palm OS users tend to be fairly minimal with the typical four buttons with direct access to the desktop, calendar, address book, calculator and find function. Depending on the program opened the onscreen keyboard or writing area are available. This means the user is dependent on stylus entry unless there are some hardware buttons or dials to help. The stylus requires accurate use and it is not always easy to move between small icons and text.
Pointer Hack (Shareware)
This extension application allows the user to operate a virtual mouse-like pointer to select onscreen menus, buttons and icons etc. It is controlled by a fixed set of keyboard commands that provide navigational control of the cursor if there is access to a peripheral keyboard. It means that the user can type text and control the interface of most Palms without having to use the stylus. The 'mouse' should work with any keyboard that allows the user to type the common Qwerty characters. This software may well suit those who have dexterity problems but are able to type.
The PDA could be combined with a thumb keyboard which although not ideal for touch typing or large documents may prove more portable and offers the same control over navigation etc with the use of the above program.
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Palm PDAs have an in-built simple speaker, which can produce a buzz or beep tonal sounds. The operating system provides one tone with three volume level choices for alarms or alerts. These beeps and buzzes may be the most important element of a PDA for those with memory difficulties and for those who depend on the devices for time management support. They can be set as alarms, timers and general reminders.
Certain Palm models have a vibrate alert including the Palm 500 series and the Handspring device with the vibrating Flash expansion card. This type of alerting system can be very helpful for those with hearing difficulties as well as those who wish to keep their reminder system quiet in public places.
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