Apple Support webpages & Safari Font Size setting

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linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

Apple Support webpages & Safari Font Size setting

I was browsing Apple Support's web pages, looking for info about an issue.

That issue aside, every time I got directed to a Support article, it was in SUPER ZOOM! I couldn't read it. Everything on the page(s) were super Zoomed. So I tried changing a few settings, turning off extensions, etc. etc.

Finally, I found the setting that helped. Safari, Preferences, Advanced. I had to UN-check the Accessibility: Never use font sizes smaller than ____.

Unchecking that, and the Apple.com Support Pages rendering looks normal again. Trouble is, that makes A LOT of other sites that use really, really, tiny fonts hard to read!!

I had it set at ...smaller than 14. Which works great for most sites. Except Apple's apparently!! (Yes, I tried all the other sizes, one by one. The only setting that worked was unchecking the box.)

So okay, is there a happy medium?? Is there another setting that can make sure that fonts are not super tiny AND let Apple.com's Support articles readable??

That is just nuts! It's nuts that all the other sites work okay, just not Apple's and it's their software (Safari)!!

Any ideas are truly welcome!!

Mac mini, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 2 GHz Intel Core i7

Posted on Sep 7, 2015 3:50 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 7, 2015 7:58 PM in response to linda2009

It's not you or your Mac. For whatever reason, Apple's support pages of late are not rendering correctly.

Here's an example > If the screen doesn't rotate on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

It's been reported to Apple so hopefully it will be corrected soon.

"I was browsing Apple Support's web pages, looking for info about an issue."

What do you need help with?

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Answer 2

linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

Sep 7, 2015 8:59 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Well, actually, it has to do with my MacBook Pro (13", not Retina). I noticed that sometimes it seems super slow to wake up. Usually it happens like this: using it just before bed, close whatever app, Close macbook. It goes to sleep, I plug it in so it can charge overnight. Sometime the next day, I open it. It's like it's dead. I click on the spacebar several times....nothing. I try to wait, perhaps impatiently, I push on the power button. Finally I hear the startup (even though I did not shut it down, merely close the top...putting to sleep). The login page appears and I log in. It gives me a message that I Shut Down my Mac - do I want apps loaded (or something like that). So I am thinking in my impatience, I shut it down by holding the power button.

So for some reason, it's going into a DEEP, deep sleep! And it's just not waking in a regular time frame. I was examining Apple's support pages looking for sleep, etc.

Any ideas??

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Answer 3

linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

Sep 7, 2015 9:10 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Glad that something has been reported to Apple about their pages, but right now the page that you link to appears okay. But only because I have the ...never use font size ____ UNchecked. If I check that option, it messes up that page (link you posted). Messes it up really bad! UNchecked it is readable, I don't notice any thing abnormal.

Just thought I'd let you know, because maybe Apple doesn't want us to specify anything about our font choice.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Sep 8, 2015 6:40 AM in response to linda2009

Sleep – Progress Bar After Waking From Sleep

Sleep – Slow Wakeup/Requires Reset

Sleep - Wakeup

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Answer 5

Esquared

Level 6

12,385 points

Sep 13, 2015 6:44 AM in response to linda2009

I discovered the relationship between the Safari minimum font size and the incorrect rendering of the Apple Support pages just yesterday. It indeed is nuts, and it really surprises me that this issue hasn't been reported more widely.

The are some pointers to different methods that can change the appearance of websites in this topic: Change the font in Safari

Haven't checked them out yet.

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Answer 6

PM-R

Level 1

4 points

Sep 13, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Esquared

Add me to the list that I just discovered the solution yesterday with Mavericks Safari and Apple's support pages not displaying properly:

disable the Never use font size smaller than… preferences setting.

It was driving me crazy, yet work with FireFox etc. Bizarre!!

I had searched the problem but never found a proper working answer (this one is) so maybe someone could change the Subject of this thread so that more might see it. I only found it by doing a search for "Mac safari never use font size smaller than" in case I thought I wads going nuts with the fix.

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Answer 7

linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

Sep 13, 2015 4:31 PM in response to linda2009

I do not see an option to change the subject of the post/thread.

However, I found an extension that seems helpful and I'm currently testing it out on the "Broken" Apple Support 'info' pages.

It's the CustomReader extension (http://canisbos.com/customreader)

Basically it opens the Reader for the page; many of the Support pages are available to open in the [Safari] Reader which is a "quick" alternative in case you do want your ___ never use fonts smaller than option 'Checked.'

If the page is available up on the address bar, it is a way to quickly open a readable version of the page. CustomReader adds options to your Reader. Even just using the Apple Reader can help. It's not a fix, but a "helper tool." Hopefully Apple will fix their Support pages...

There's also some other helpful extension on the canisbos.com site.

I know some Apple folks do not like to use any extensions, but I do have some. Yes, if you run into Safari trouble, it's the first place to turn stuff off.

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Answer 8

PM-R

Level 1

4 points

Sep 13, 2015 7:04 PM in response to linda2009

Thanks for the helpful post, but doesn't it seem a bit odd to have to use some third party extension to be able to read some of Apple's own support posts with their own Safari software browser???

They're really missing getting some of their own basic webpage stuff to even work with their own browser it seems. Forget the "new features", just get the old basic stuff to work …for the rest of us!! 😐

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Answer 9

linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

Sep 13, 2015 7:35 PM in response to PM-R

Yes, PM-R, you're right. Seems counter-productive to have broken Support pages! 😕

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