Since I published the first version of this post in 2016 on reducing eye strain from screens with technology settings and browser extensions, I’ve noticed that eye strain isn’t just about screen brightness or color temperatures. While both of these things definitely play a role, other factors like visual clutter, page layouts, and placing an emphasis on visual access play a more significant role in contributing to eye strain, especially for users with low vision like me. Here is a list of ten ways to reduce eye strain from screens with technology settings and environmental modifications, from a person with low vision that relies on screens to access visual information.
Add a blue light filter or color filter to screens
Blue light filters and color filters are tools that can reduce eye strain from screens by reducing the negative effect of blue light and/or adjusting how colors are displayed on a screen for a more comfortable viewing experience. Color filters can change how specific colors are displayed on a screen (helpful for colorblindness or color deficiencies) or apply a subtle tint to a display, similar to computer glasses or a screen protector.
Blue light filters and color filters can be configured in device settings or added as a web browser extension. These settings may be listed under the following names:
- Night light (Windows, Android)
- Color filters
- Color tint (iOS/iPadOS)
- Night mode
Related links
- Customize Accessibility Settings For Specific Apps
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Android Phones
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Windows 10
- How To Make iPad Accessible for Low Vision
Increase the font size or display scaling
As part of having low vision and a print disability, I find it impossible to read standard print or small letters/numbers on paper or on screens. I always have some sort of large print on my devices, but I use even larger font sizes than I can technically read so that I can avoid straining my eyes or positioning my head/neck at an uncomfortable angle as I try to read text. If I catch myself squinting or leaning forward, I take that as a sign that I need to increase the font size, magnification levels, or browser zoom to provide a more comfortable viewing experience.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Windows Magnifier and Low Vision
- How To Use Hover Text For iPad With Low Vision
- How To Make Text Cursors Easier To See In Windows
- Mouse Pointers and Low Vision
Minimize the harsh appearance of bright white light or bright colors
With photophobia, I experience sensitivity to bright lights, especially bright white backgrounds for documents and whiteboards. Looking at dark text on a white background for long periods of time can make it difficult for me to focus my eyes, which often manifests as lines appearing to “collide” with one another or appearing to “float away” off the edge of the screen. While this is often a sign that I need to take a vision break, I still try to minimize the effects of bright white backgrounds and adjust display colors to minimize eye strain.
Examples of strategies I have used to minimize the appearance of white light include:
- Setting Microsoft Office theme (in Options menu) to dark gray or black
- Reducing the white point of colors on my device. This is a setting for iPadOS/iOS devices in the Accessibility menu (under Display & Text Size)
- Changing the page color to a tinted color that isn’t bright white (just make sure to change back before printing to avoid a shaded background)
- Using dark mode or another color scheme to avoid bright backgrounds
I share another strategy for reducing bright light in the next section, which impacts how color is displayed on the screen more dramatically.
Related links
- Paper Colors And Low Vision
- Avoiding Flashing Lights On Social Media
- Mainstream eReader Apps and Low Vision Accessibility
- Choosing Between Light Mode and Dark Mode For Low Vision
Invert colors or use a high contrast display
Invert colors (also known as inverted display or invert) is a color mode/color filter that changes a light-colored display with dark text to a dark-colored display with light text. This can be helpful for users with low vision that are sensitive to bright lights or want to improve the contrast of a display without removing any background graphics. Inverted display/inverted colors can be enabled as a display filter for screen magnification tools, or applied as a system-wide setting for iOS, Mac, Android, ChromeOS, and Windows devices.
Another option is to use a high contrast display, such as the high contrast themes in Windows 10 and 11. This removes non-essential display graphics and formatting, allowing users to select color schemes for their device’s display, text, links, and similar items. This uses a much more limited color palette than traditional displays, but is useful for those with low vision, light sensitivity, contrast deficiencies, or color deficiencies.
Related links
- How To Use Invert Colors With Low Vision
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- How To Use High Contrast in Windows 10 and Windows 11
Enable automatic brightness or use a browser extension
Automatic brightness settings adjust automatically to the lighting within a user’s environment for optimal display settings, though they can be changed at any time from a quick settings menu, taskbar, or control center settings area. Alternatively, users can enable a browser extension or setting that will automatically adjust brightness and light intensity throughout the day, which can be used to help minimize exposure to blue light as well. Eye Guardian and Screen Shader are two examples of extensions that can be used with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge web browsers.
Related links
- Customize Accessibility Settings For Specific Apps
- Eye Guardian | Blue Light Filter – Chrome Web Store (google.com)
- Screen Shader | Smart Screen Tinting – Chrome Web Store (google.com)
Use keyboard shortcuts to streamline tasks
Keyboard shortcuts (also known as hotkeys) provide a non-visual access method that can be used to open applications without searching for an icon, which can help improve efficiency and streamline tasks since users don’t have to look for an icon or text label to perform a task. There are several hotkeys that are available by default for keyboard access, though users can also create their own custom shortcuts as well.
When learning keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Office applications, I appreciate that I can select the Alt key to view an overlay of letters on the ribbon, which can be used to open/activate specific features. The keyboard shortcut I currently use the most frequently is Alt + W, F (press Alt + W followed by F) to activate Read Mode.
Related links
- How To Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Keyboards
- Ways To Use Teleprompter Apps As Assistive Technology
Listen to content with text-to-speech
Instead of reading content visually, another option is to listen to information with text-to-speech or a shortcut like Read Aloud, which will read text out loud in a synthesized voice. Some applications will also display line-level or word-level highlighting as text is read out loud so users can follow along with text as it is read out loud. Switching to auditory modalities or non-visual access is another useful strategy to reduce eye strain from screens, which is why many students with low vision learn to access content through multiple modalities.
Related links
- How To Use Text-To-Speech With Low Vision
- Using Anthology Ally With Low Vision
- The Best Study Tips For Visually Impaired Students
Activate a simplified reading display to reduce visual clutter
One of my all-time favorite tools for reading digital content with low vision is a simplified reading display, which applies a consistent font size, font style, and background color to digital text. This can help to eliminate visual clutter such as ads, multi-column layouts, decorative photos, and animations, and many simplified reading displays also offer options for text-to-speech.
Simplified reading displays may be listed under one of the following names:
- Reading view
- Distraction-free reading
- Reading tools
- Reader mode
- Simplify reader
- Reading mode
- Simplify text
Related links
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- How I Use Microsoft Immersive Reader With Low Vision
- Google Reader Mode and Low Vision
- How I Use Send-To-Kindle With Low Vision
Customize the appearance of icons and taskbars
Custom icons and folders have the obvious benefit of making hard-to-see icons easier to see, and they can also be used provide better contrast against a desktop wallpaper/background, use color as a labeling tool, or to make icons easier to identify if there are several similar looking icons on the screen. This can also help with reducing eye strain since users don’t have to visually search for icons, or can use color/shape labels instead of text labels.
To help with streamlining the appearance of taskbars and toolbars on my devices, I’ve used the Customize Ribbon settings in Microsoft Office and similar applications to hide features or tools that I never use. This has helped eye strain as well as cognitive fatigue, since I don’t have to scan through a list of features that I never use to find the ones I do need.
Related links
Set reminders for vision breaks
For users that tend to get “glued” to screens and forget to look away, setting reminders for vision breaks can help to manage and reduce eye strain from screens. This can be in the form of timers, custom routines or notifications, or setting reminders to take breaks and look away from the screen. For me, the most important thing to remember when taking a vision break is that I shouldn’t use it as an opportunity to go look at a different screen or application, and that it is truly important to rest my eyes and/or brain.
Related links
- Activity Ideas For Vision Breaks
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- Two of Everything: Living With Double Vision
More ideas to reduce eye strain from screens
- I wear non-polarized tinted prescription glasses to help manage photophobia (sensitivity to bright lights), which has been helpful for screens and other environments. Learn more in How Tinted Glasses Help My Light Sensitivity and Veronica’s Four Eyes: All About My Glasses For Low Vision
- For my phone, another way that I have reduced eye strain is to remove icons from my home screen, and instead open frequently used applications with gestures- I share more about this in my post How To Create A Custom Android Home Screen With Microsoft Launcher
- Environmental accommodations like lighting can also play a role in eye strain and managing fatigue- learn more in Lighting And Low Vision and Environmental Accommodations For Low Vision Students
- Want to minimize the effects of strobe, flickering, and/or flashing lights? Read Avoiding Flashing Lights On Social Media
Published December 5, 2016. Updated September 2024