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In Windows 8, iif you use a touch-enabled device, you can control Magnifier from the edges of your screen. To start Magnifier on a touch-enabled device you will need to first designate Magnifier as the start option when pressing the Windows logo key + Volume up in the Ease of Access settings.

Ease of Access settings screen where you can select which accessibility tool to open with the keyboard shortcut Windows logo key + Volume Up.

Once magnifier has been started, a border will appear around the edges of the magnified screen. You can use these borders to move around the entire screen and it will work with all of your Windows 8 and desktop applications. You can simply drag your finger along a border to move Magnifier in that direction. When the border disappears, you are at the edge of the screen.  By pressing the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons in the corners of the screen you can zoom in or out to a size that best suits your preference. You can also quickly change the zoom level by moving two fingers closer together or farther apart on one of the borders. To help keep track of your location on the screen, Magnifier has a preview feature that shows you exactly where you are in the context of the entire screen. To see the preview, tap with a thumb or finger on opposite borders at the same time. The currently magnified window will zoom out and highlight the part of the screen you are viewing, and, after a few seconds it will zoom back to the currently highlighted location. When viewing the preview you can also drag the highlighted region to quickly move Magnifier around the screen.

This tool is seamlessly integrated into my PC environment, and makes the entire experience more comfortable for me whenever I need it.  Try it out yourself.  It might just become your favorite Windows  8 feature too.

You can find out more about how to make your computer safer and easier to use at Microsoft.com/enable.

This blog post was written by Bonnie Kearney, Director of Accessibility & Aging Marketing at Microsoft. Bonnie has been with Microsoft for over 17 years and is especially passionate about building awareness for technology that improves the lives of people of all ages and abilities.

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