Q: Yosemite: how to increase menu font size?

I have the same problem and appreciate tomell's explanation.  For me, it's an accessibility issue.  Somehow Yosemite not only changed the font, it somehow changed the display brightness in a way that makes my 27" iMac display almost impossible to use--I need very high contrast.  Also, web addresses no longer appear in Safari, so I can't copy the URL links.  I can't read or compose mail--my settings haven't changed, it's just something in the native system software.  I tried calling tech support but the expected wait time was too long.  I was going to upgrade my various tablets and might have considered eventually updating my desktop iMac but now...I don't know what I'll do.  

Thanks.  I already have it set to the maximum contrast.  Makes no difference.  I've messed with the color settings (gamma, white point, etc) but nothing makes any difference.  Probably, the system settings were somehow altered to be optimized for the newest displays--my system is from 2012 and just paid off--but I'm not sure.  I can't read what I'm typing (sorry for all typos), nor can I use Safari easily.  I've switched back to Chrome, which is somewhat better.  Unfortunately, a previous system update removed the ability of Chrome to display most graphics--I tired every trick I could find to fix the problem but never found any remedy.  Why can't Apple beta test with a broader range of users, anyway?  I almost had to give up on the original cinema display because of similar problems.  At least, Windows gives me more accessibility control.  Does anyone at Apple ever read any of these community posts?

I could not agree more.  Lucida looks pretty, but is simply too thin and light to read easily on a screen, even a Retina display.  I want my menu bar words to display more prominently!  Wish we had an option to go back to Lucida if we wanted to . . . I have looked around and found no such option  . . .

At least for Finder, I was able to increase the font size by View\Show View Options.

Although the original post by tomell referred to font size in the comment title, the actual comment rebuked Apple for the font in Yosemite, not just its size.  I then commented that the Yosemite default display had been engineered in a way as to render the Apple iMac display unusable for some of us in the low vision community. 

It is indeed possible to increase the default font size in Finder up to 16, though this complicates other aspects of the display.  However, this really doesn't address the fundamental problem.  Many low vision users need high contrast, preferably white on a black background.  Reversing the color scheme doesn't help, since then all the colors in all the graphics are also reversed, making all graphics look like ghosts.  Microsoft Windows handles the same issue by giving users control over font size (not just to 16), font type and, when high contrast white on black is specified in it's accessibility panel, not changing the colors in any graphics. 

The problem with Yosemite cannot be solved simply by changing any specific setting.  It is fundamental to the Yosemite design and Apple's attitude towards accessibility.  Apple's attitude is that the company knows what is best for all of us:  it doesn't bother to ask any of the individuals actually impacted.  However, what their designers can see I cannot see, and that is the end of the story.  So, Apple is forcing people like me back to Microsoft for the desktop. 

That is the real problem with committing--as have I--to Apple's ecosystem.  Starting over with Android or going back to Microsoft will be a wrenching experience. But, Apple has given me no choice.  Apple chose (their own) aesthetics over usability.  

Yosemite is looking much better to me now.

1.   I have gone to Accessibility Displays and clicked on the check box to increase contrast.  This is NOT the same as increasing contrast in System Preferences Display.  Leaving things alone here looks best to me.

2.   I went to System Preferences General and checked on "use Dark Menu ....."  This helped a lot.

3.   I increased text sizes where possible.

4.   I changed the desktop's background to a solid color that contrasts with most text and icons.

5.   I went online yesterday and contacted Apple support  to make an appointment to receive a phone call.  I received the call at the time I had chosen.  Two representatives helped me solve my problems

Bob

6.   One more thing.  To get a page's url, click in the url line and it will be shown already highlighted.

Bob

I'm glad Apple's menu selections work for some.  I'm not sure to what Accessibility Display options Bob Thompson2 refers, but within the Accessibility tab within System Preferences there is a contrast bar that can be set.  It doesn't really help me:  I need to be able to change the font type and the background default color to something different from white.  This is a common situation for low vision users.  Each individual has different needs.  And, making changes on the desktop only provides limited relief:  it doesn't help within Apple Notes, Mail, Safari, or iTunes.   I can't read any of the text in iTunes, and I can only read browser data in Chrome and Firefox (though for whatever reason only Safari correctly displays graphics). 

In principle, one could create CSS (style) sheets for each and every application.  But, I repeat:  the changes in OS X 10.10 appear to have been made for purely aesthetic reasons.  These changes relate to the basic software engineering design for Yosemite and reflect an attitude that one standard can fit all needs and that that standard can only be selected by one entity, namely Apple.  Microsoft has shown that that need not be the case. 

Unless Tech Support can identify pre-designed CSS accessibility sheets I can use, they really can't help me.  The last time I had a problem and tried to contact someone from Apple's accessibility group, they were inaccessible and not taking data from outside.  I don't know who Apple consults, but Apple has repeatedly made clear:  if you don't like it, you can lump it.  

Thanks.  That does seem to work, though generally I find the new Spotlight / search capabilities more confusing than helpful.  I seem to get options when I click on most URL lines:  I find it visually confusing.  That was one of the original reasons I switched from Microsoft Office apps to Apple:  Office became too encumbered with options and you had to search around for whatever you really wanted--really hard for some of us.  Apple's design was simpler back then.  Now perhaps I should revisit Windows 8 or Jelly Bean desktop and only use the cinema display for entertainment.  Fortunately, for music, I still have an old iPod classic:  the OS hasn't changed.   Hopefully, iCloud can be accessed from any browser on any computer.  But, again, I do appreciate the suggestion.

I do not know if I can help but I checked the 4th check box in Accessibility displays.  Leaving the Contrast slider in the normal position looks best for me.

Here is a short video that I put together on what I did in previous operating systems.  It is far from perfect.  Some day soon I will reshoot it.  Your eyes may be better than mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE-jXQtwf9A&list=UU73YL4XV9bkEolQKcAgqN0Q

If the link does not show you can go to youtube and do a search for Voiceover Mac 480 iPad turbo or

Bob

     I also have the 27", but from 2012.  I just paid it off a couple months ago.  I simply used Apple's own color display calibration profile software.  I created several profiles and tried them out over time, but the truth is that Apple doesn't give a user access to the most important parameters (for me).  I fiddled with the color profiles a lot, and while I didn't like every aspect of what I could produce, I was able to make the system work for me.

     High resolution and contrast help, but background color and font type are probably more important.  One of the good things Apple did was to use a yellow tint for the native default for iBooks.  I see it is still available for background in some areas of Safari, and that helps a lot.  The white background combined with the current default font is not accessible to me.  The default font even with a tinted background is still hard to read, but manageable.

     I usually can't do black on white--others can but can't do white on black.  I've seen a lot of theories on why these differences exist, but whatever the reasons and etiologies, the differences between individuals somehow relate to the working distribution of rods and cones in the eyes.  Bob mentions in his video that he has a form of rod cone dystrophy, and I do as well, but of a different type.  I don't suffer from a degenerative disease such as macular degeneration.  Instead, I was born with ocular pathologies that include a corneal dystrophy.  Over 20 different corneal dystrophies are known but all I've been told is that (in my one functional eye) the cornea is "poorly attached to the retina".  Because of the wide variety of different disorders and manifestations, it is hard to generalize as to what is universally preferable for display options in low vision cases.   It is always best to give individuals flexibility to choose.  Apple just gives less than other manufacturers.

Oh my, Apple does it again like with iOS 7…the replies has persuaded me to stay with my old 10.7.5. Shame, I was ready to upgrade. I have a strong background in UI design and am legally blind. Ive doesn't have a clue or cares that much is clear. Yes, I too will be driven back to MS.