Do you think this could be addressed by using the zoom feature? Often a user will want to see everything enlarged, but want the recipient to receive messages in a more normal font size. That's a good application for zoom, since it only affects your display and not the message content itself.

I searched for an add-on that could automatically "pre-zoom" for your user but I didn't see one. The manual method is to use the keyboard:

• Windows: hold down the Ctrl key and tap the + to enlarge or - to reduce
• Mac: hold down the Command key and tap the + to enlarge or - to reduce

Probably someone more intimately familiar with Thunderbird will be able to provide more suggestions.

Sorry, this would be too complicated for her. However, it did occur to me that her problem may be simply in her tri-focal glasses. I know that I use specially formulated glasses computed to correct my vision to my three main monitors, and they work fine. I suspect her uncorrected vision is much worse. This is the avenue I'm going to investigate, unless someone comes up with a better solution. I thought about Outlook instead of Thunderbird, but it doesn't have anything to help -- that is, keep the font enlarged semi-permanently. Then, a web-mail solution in a browser may work, since a browser that she is NOT using (Chrome) seems to keep its magnification increase between sessions (probably a cookie).

Forgive my rambling. Just thinking with my fingers on the keyboard.

Any other creative ideas appreciated.

You can quite easily make all message text larger, but I don't know how to change just her reply text. Would making all of the message text bigger be useful?

Tools|Options|Display|Formatting->Advanced and increase the "minimum font size" value. Do this for both "Latin" and "Other writing systems". You only need do this adjustment once and it will apply permanently to the vast majority of email messages.

Using the font icon isn't a good solution because it increases the font size seen by the recipient, too.

In most places, you can also zoom using the mouse wheel while holding down control, as an alternative to using the + and - keys. But the Compose window is a slightly odd place and doesn't work like many other windows in Thunderbird, and I'm not sure if zoom works in it.

I have heard opticians recommending spectacles formulated specifically for computer use. Regular spectacles and reading spectacles don't cater well for the usual working distance for a screen. Varifocals can work well but you have to get used to tilting your head to just the right angle, which might also mean getting the user and the screen at just the right heights.

More here on text sizes:

http://xenos-email-notes.simplesite.com/417754775