5 Ways to Go Easier On Your Eyes
January 11th, 2008 (4:00pm) Samuel Dean 14 Comments
Eye strain is a common denominator among web workers and people who sit in front of any kind of display for long periods of time. The good news is that you can give your peepers a break by picking up a few tips on how to optimize your applications and devices as you use them. Many of these tips are also useful for optimizing the look of text and images when you’re doing presentations, or when showing somebody something on a laptop screen.
Scroll for an Easier View. You can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to increase the size of text and graphics on a web page, or in any document. To do this, go to a web page, hold the Ctrl key down and lightly move your mouse’s scroll wheel down. The information on the page will increase in size. Hold the Ctrl key down and move the scroll wheel up to return to normal size.
View Documents in Full Screen Mode. Especially if you work with big spreadsheets or write all day long, learn to view your documents in full screen mode. You can find out how to switch to Full Screen mode by clicking for Help in an application or Googling “Full Screen” and the name of your application. In Microsoft productivity applications such as Excel and Word, select Full Screen from the View menu.
Zoom Documents for Bigger Text and Images. Also in Microsoft productivity applications such as Word and Excel, you can select Zoom from the View menu, then select a size, to get bigger text and images. Full Screen and Zoom viewing are especially easy on the eyes if you spend a lot of time in front of, say, a subnotebook system.
Get Your Ratios Right. Adjust your display’s contrast and brightness so that they’re easy on your eyes, and don’t forget to adjust your room lighting. Many people cite pronounced reductions in eye strain when working next to a halogen lamp instead of fluorescent lighting. Also 10:3 is the suggested ratio for the brightness of the characters on your display versus the background, and experts also suggest room illumination three times brighter than your screen background. (Your mileage may vary.)
Take Frequent Breaks. You can actually feel the relief of eye strain when you get up and walk around for a few minutes. Eye care experts recommend taking frequent short breaks if possible, rather than just one or two extended breaks.
Do you have any good tips on relieving eye strain for web workers?
14 Comments Post your own comment
Steve Hollasch says: January 11th, 2008 5:49pm
6. Stop visiting web sites that specify font sizes in pixels (and which are inevitably authored by web developers with low to medium resolution displays), as you’re forced to use the zoom hack to read their low-res graphics.
nathan bertram says: January 11th, 2008 11:53pm
I think the thing that has made the biggest difference for me is simply taking a break to look out the window and refocus my eyes. Making sure you are a comfortable at distance away from your monitor is always helpful =).
Freelance Writing Jobs » Blog Archive » Weekend Link Love for January 12th, 2007 says: January 12th, 2008 6:08am
[...] 5 Ways to Go Easy on the Eyes (I hear that!) at Web Worker Daily. [...]
ITrush says: January 12th, 2008 7:50am
Hmmm, you’re right WWD! and don’t forget to use an eye protector such as monitor filter, it’ll also help reduce eye strains.
nhick
http://www.itrush.com
listen_to_webworker_daily says: January 12th, 2008 11:10am
Also, don’t waste a lot of time reading blogs! Its equally straining on the eyes. You can just listen to them at blogbard on your iphone on your way to work/home etc.
» 5 consigli per non stressare troppo gli occhi lavorando al computer Geekissimo says: January 13th, 2008 5:00am
[...] Fonte: Web Worker Daily [...]
Brian says: January 13th, 2008 7:05am
Great suggestions all! Reducing the high contrast of brilliant white document backgrounds to black font may increase comfort reading from monitors and improve productivity. ComfortScreen is a simple program designed for this purpose, check out the benefits at http://www.readscape.com.
Jon says: January 13th, 2008 10:06am
I love using Firefox’s text size feature on sites that specify tiny fonts.
When I’m doing a lot of doc review, I rotate my monitor (Dell LCD) and Windows desktop so I have a portrait view. It looks weird but I can view a whole page at a time in a readable size.
Jillian says: January 13th, 2008 1:59pm
@Steve
This should only be a problem if you use internet explorer. Download a decent browser and you won’t need to worry!
Niyaz PK says: January 13th, 2008 9:32pm
Even though black text in white backround seems to be standard, it is causing problems for many people.
It is much easier to read, but staring at the white background for long can cause problems.
Lavorare al computer e preservare la vista « MC3 DESIGN says: January 13th, 2008 11:59pm
[...] E voi che altri consigli avete per non stressare troppo gli occhi lavorando al computer? Fonte: Web Worker Daily - [...]
Elena says: January 14th, 2008 1:10am
I often look away from the computer screen and focus on far away objects: posters on the wall, street view through the office’s windows… Taking a 5-min. break is advisable not only for your sight but also for your overall health. Go get yourself a glass of water, pick up some fruit from the coffee room, have a short chat with a workmate downstairs instead of sending him/her an email… anything goes!
yummycoconuts says: January 14th, 2008 8:31pm
while taking your break put an ice pack, or a bag of frozen vegetables, over your eyes, even after a few minutes I notice my eyes feel refreshed(it helps get rid of under eye circles too for you late night typers)
Dimitrios Matsoulis says: January 18th, 2008 3:37am
Actually doing computer work without any break during the week is also strenuous. It is best to set sindays aside for non computer related stuff. If you can go for a hike or spend time for outdoors activities the week’s working part is better for the eyes too!
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