Improving Visual Ergonomics...

...for the vision-impaired. I was born with exceptionally poor eyesight that has progressively worsened. The circumstances and distances for which it can be successfully corrected are increasingly limited here at the door of old age. Frustrated squinting at Reaper in my dual monitors is (among many other things) really starting to get me down. :( I'm sure I'm not alone here I'm looking for themes and layout tweaks that people find helpful in this situation. As always, thanks for any effective help with this!

Did you try to check the button "Advanced UI/system tweaks..." in "Options -> Preferences -> General"? There are some settings that might help, especially "Scale UI elements of track/mixer panels, transport, etc, by:". With this you can make all elements larger. Some time ago I read here in the forums that there are also tools that help not to get lost in Reaper's windows jungle. Maybe someone who knows more about this chimes in. -Data

Maybe try the theme Rock Solid. It has large buttons and laid out like a hardware mixer would look, with tons of variations on the mixer side. Secondly try using toolbars. Although I've tried various themes I generally come back to the default theme. Rock solid is the theme I use when I start out, and when I do automation when I do mixing. For arrangements and recording I use the default theme. There are various other themes that I've seen that are pretty well laid out with large icons. Hope this helps.

The biggest problem I have is reading minuscule text and indicators, especially in low-contrast text/background combinations. The icons I can manage pretty well, but the various smaller text/numeric data tend to teeter on the very edge of being an undifferentiated blur. I'm wondering if using a reading magnifier is viable or if the nature of LED monitors would prevent that from being clearer. I'm thinking that maybe moving the monitors much closer (they're at eye level probably around 18"-20" away, which I think is about normal) might help. I'm mainly trying to see how a theme/options might improve legibility first, before I start tearing things up in the studio. ;) As it is now, I'm just shutting the system down and leaving the studio in frustration more often than not.