[peterallcdn]

Hello,

Kodi 17 looked so promising on my 24" monitors from 2' away, but when I finally installed it on my Shield for use with my TV... my heart sank.

The font size almost everywhere is sooooo small. Now I don't have perfect vision but I'm certainly not blind, I see well enough to have a driver's license etc. On Kodi 16 I used the "Larger font size" font setting. This made reading movie/TV lists and their descriptions and details relatively comfortable. On Kodi 17 however, the font in most places is almost illegible.

As you can see in this comparisons below, the font size has shrunk drastically. Asking users who are used to... or may NEED... the larger font size setting to somehow adapt to the new font size is simply unrealistic.





A single font size, unless it's giant, is simply not acceptable. I've read posts from people claiming that the perfect font size is X for an X-sized TV at X-distance... all of that is baloney! There is NO perfect font size because the true determining factor in picking a font size is biology... how well the user can actually see. Because biology, or visual acuity, can change from person to person, so will the preferred font size.

Since Estuary is a brand new Theme, I would hope that when its features were being planned that accessibility was among the top of them. If it was, then please bring back a font size equal to the "Larger font size" font setting. Although technically, there should be many font sizes available ranging from the current tiny Kodi 17 font up to and possibly exceeding the Larger font size of Kodi 16. If Kodi 16 can handle the "Large font size", I don't see why Kodi 17 can't. If accessibility isn't a top feature of Estuary, well, that's a major oversight that should be corrected ASAP.

Please keep in mind that it's not just the obvious things like lists, descriptions and details that need bigger fonts, but also the less obvious things like the information displayed while scanning/refreshing the library, the indicators at the bottom of the screen such as video duration and resolution, the current video filename and path shown when the refresh button is highlighted etc etc.

I don't mean to poopoo the hard work of the people who designed the new UX as it's very pretty, but if the new UX can't handle bigger font sizes then it would appear that form was put before function which is a big no-no, especially with the large userbase that Kodi has.

Please bring back a font size setting equal to that of "Larger font size" and if possible other font size options both bigger and smaller... because biology.

Thanks!

[mujunk]

I second your thought.

[bilgepump]

This has been previously raised and discussed
263958 (thread)

[popy]

+99999999999

I think it would be easy for the kodi devs to implement an option where user can increase or decrease fonts size.
Sure it could be that something isnt readable or cut off, but wouldnt this be an idea?

thx
pOpY

[peterallcdn]

You would think, right?

Give people the option that as the font size increases, if it exceeds the space available to either...

a) Trim the text (as seen with Agents of SHIELD in the left list above)
b) Trim the text and scroll it when highlighted
c) Wrap text to new line.

I don't know what technology Kodi is using for its UX, but you could certainly build a UX that adapts to different font sizes using HTML, CSS and javascript.

I don't know why there is any talk of larger fonts messing up Kodi 17's design seeing as that in the Kodi 16 image above, the UX space devoted to listing shows is smaller than in Kodi 17, yet even with the much larger font size there are actually MORE shows listed... 14 in Kodi 16 vs 12 in Kodi 17. I can only assume that one of the driving forces behind the small font stance is that it allows you to see more of the fanart behind it.... again, putting form before function. And by the way, I disabled background fanart in settings to make the list as legible as possible but as you can see the fanart still shows in... yes, I know... the fanart view. I'm using that view because it's the closest to the Media Info 3 view which is my favourite from Kodi 16 which also went missing in Kodi 17.

One of the mods mentioned that the Kodi 17 font size is based on standards set by Google. Again, this falls under the magical belief of one perfect font size for everyone which I debunked in my first post. Google is definitely NOT a company to hold up as a champion of accessibility. Whether it's a lack of font size options in Android or lack of font size options on Android TV where I struggle every day to read UX elements or video titles when in the Youtube app, Google is not a friend to anyone with less than perfect vision. Here's a standard for ya though... The government has determined that I see well enough to control a vehicle without killing people, yet apparently that's not good enough for Kodi where I have to see even better to comfortably navigate my TV. :-D

I feel like Kodi's stance of "We can read it, so you should be able to also" is like me with perfectly good legs telling someone in a wheelchair that just because I can walk, they should be able to also. The difference between the two is that I can't give someone the ability to walk, but Kodi CAN give its users with less than perfect vision larger fonts so they CAN see.

The question is, does Kodi want to give its users the ability to see?

[jjd-uk]

+99999999999

I think it would be easy for the kodi devs to implement an option where user can increase or decrease fonts size.
Sure it could be that something isnt readable or cut off, but wouldnt this be an idea?

thx
pOpY

There is, modify the font.xml file.

[peterallcdn]

+99999999999

I think it would be easy for the kodi devs to implement an option where user can increase or decrease fonts size.
Sure it could be that something isnt readable or cut off, but wouldnt this be an idea?

thx
pOpY

There is, modify the font.xml file.

How do you modify the font.xml file?

Seeing as people with less than perfect vision have essentially been told to kick rocks, I'm trying to figure out how to edit the font.xml file on my Nvidia Shield Android(7.0) TV box. But I can't seem to find the file anywhere. I've installed file managers on it, I've connected to it over the network, but all I see are some "internal" folders such as Alarms, Download, Movies, Music etc. I can't view any files related to Kodi, certainly not the font.xml file.

Please, how do I access the file so I can edit it??

Thanks

[cabbresson]

You can try this skin mod.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=307916

Sent from my SM-G900R4

[cabbresson]

And this one is the one I'm currently using on my main TV

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=307916

Sent from my SM-G900R4

[peterallcdn]

Thanks for the replies cabbresson.

I managed to figure out a solution. I copied the skin.estuary directory from my Windows install, edited the included addon.xml file to give the skin a new name, zipped the whole directory up, copied it to the download folder on the shield, then installed the skin as an addon from inside Kodi. Now I have a skin to experiment with. Thankfully I was able to change the font sizes right away and Kodi is actually usable now!

[nickr]

For the record, nobody told you to "kick rocks".

Estuary font sizes were increased as it was developed - due to comments similar to those expressed in this thread. So, not ignored at all.

And not forgetting, Estuary is not Kodi's only skin

[peterallcdn]

Sorry nickr, I have to respectfully disagree.

When adding a font size option...

• is easy to do
  
• costs nothing (well a little time, which isn't necessarily free)
  
• helps a lot of people with poor vision
  

... yet you still don't add it because , that's pretty much telling those people who could greatly benefit from it to kick rocks.

And yes apparently the Estuary font size was increased from microscopic to tiny. So the comments may not have been ignored but they may have been misunderstood.

I mean just think. Your desktop OS offers font sizes and zooming. Your web browsers offer font sizes and zooming. Your phone and tablets offer font sizes and zooming.... and all of these things are inches or at most a few feet away from you. But an application on your TV, from which you may be viewing from across the room, offers no font sizes. If you believe that one font size is good for everyone, would you also agree that TVs should have only one volume level? I mean if everyone should be able to see one font size, surely everyone should also be able to hear the same volume level, no?

Anyway, I don't want to keep griping like an a-hole. I'm aware Kodi is a free product and I'm grateful for it and all those who make it. I'm simply frustrated that a feature that could really improve the user experience for so many people, especially those with poor vision, is not being implemented for some unknown reason.

[Hitcher]

If it's so easy (as everyone here seems to think) go ahead and do it yourselves; failing that switch back to Confluence.

[peterallcdn]

See, Hitcher provides a perfect example of what I was talking about. He or she provides no explanation of why a feature that can help many people with poor vision isn't being added, just a big ol' go do it yourself... aka kick rocks.

If I understood how Kodi was coded, rest assured I would add such a feature. Are you one of Kodi's coders, Hitcher? If so, are you telling me that with all the options already in Kodi, that adding a font size option isn't easy?... That it's truly difficult?

Sure, increasing the font size too much may break the UX in areas. But you can add a disclaimer saying so and still give people the option. I increased the first set of fonts all to 40, that was just my first blanket attempt to see how changing the font size affected things, I still have to play around and adjust them individually to see what affects what. But the point is that even though this change caused minor line-wrapping and for some text to exceed the boundaries of the box it's in, everything overall still works just fine and is very legible.

[Martijn]

Oh you guys for sure know everything better it seems. If it was so god damn easy it would have been done already. But since it's not its not easy.

Now if you need bigger fonts you change it yourself for now or move your couch closer to the TV.

Who knows we'll find a good solution in the future but for it is like it is.