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Firefox 69 reader mode maximum zoom level has been limited. Can this be fixed?

  • 31 cavab
  • 3 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Thepipe

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Prior to FF 69, I could zoom to HUGE font sizes in Reader Mode. As a user with low vision (macular degeneration) this was very helpful. However, in FF69, zooming is extremely limited. The maximum font size appears to be about 24 point - which is next to useless for those with low vision. Is there any way this can be fixed? I tried the Reader addon, but its zoom isn't much better.

Prior to FF 69, I could zoom to HUGE font sizes in Reader Mode. As a user with low vision (macular degeneration) this was very helpful. However, in FF69, zooming is extremely limited. The maximum font size appears to be about 24 point - which is next to useless for those with low vision. Is there any way this can be fixed? I tried the Reader addon, but its zoom isn't much better.
Attached screenshots

All Replies (11)

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AWESOME! Thanks again!

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while below works

@-moz-document url-prefix(about:reader){
  /*** These rules only apply in Reader View ***/
  /* Font size: normal zoom max is 28px */
  div.container {
    font-size: 36px !important;
  }
}

reader has always been limited. Eye burning.

I've spent much time trying to get reader mode working. I've got a 43" 4k screen.

Not so much a fix, Tranquility Reader https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tranquility-1/

You can change everything. Font, colours, line spacing, alignment. Even clicked links are kept in reader mode

If firefox reader mode had all those functions without silly limitations it would be perfect. Especially for those with vision problems.

Modified by c1460286

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Thanks. I'll try Tranquility Reader.

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mozilla is providing a fix for this - it's already in firefox 70 beta.

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Good news. Can't wait to try it out!

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It's fixed in 69.0.1. See bug 1578454.

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Thanks, that partially solved the problem. I can now zoom up to 300% in reader mode. However, this is less than the maximum reader mode zoom that was achievable prior to FF69.

Based on previous troubleshooting input, I had modified the zoom.maxPercent; to 1000%. Unfortunately, this only effects the normal mode zoom. In reader mode, the zoom only goes to 300% in FF 69.0.1. Although this is an improvement it is still less than the previous maximum zoom.

Also, the settings under the FF menu do not reflect the correct zoom level when in reader mode. No matter what level you zoom to, the settings always say 100%. The correct zoom level is reflected in normal mode though - see attachments.

If I zoom in to greater than 300% in normal mode, then switch to reader mode, the zoom level is retained and I can even continue zooming. This seems non-intuitive though and a little kludgy.

In normal mode, if I zoom while the FF menu is displayed, I can see the zoom level value change. This does not happen in reader mode. If I zoom to say 540% in normal mode, then switch to reader mode, the value under the FF menu will say 540%. However if I zoom up and down while in reader mode, the zoom value shown in the FF menu does not dynamically change as it does in normal mode. Instead, the value remains the same as it was when the switch to reader mode was made. This is true whether I use the keyboard shortcut or click the +- buttons under the FF menu.

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Hi rshboston, the Reader handles the zoom up and zoom down buttons differently. Instead of doing a proportional enlargement like regular view, it modifies the base font size by 2px each time. On mine, it takes many, many taps of Ctrl+ to get to the max:

  • base size: 20px
  • max zoom: 58px (approximately 3x)

This seems to be stored for the Reader across sites, which is convenient. However, that also means, at least for me, the site zoom level in regular view has no effect on Reader view.

The reader.font_size preference you'll see in about config appears to max out at 24, meaning if I increase it to 30 and then open Reader view on a page, it resets back to 24.

That's a lot better than what it was before, but still a limitation.

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@rshboston, could you rewrite your report on bugzil.la/1578454 ? Thanks.

Modified by TyDraniu

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Note that this should be fixed in Firefox 69.0.1

Fixed the maximum size of fonts in Reader Mode when zoomed (bug 1578454)

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I mentioned that in my reply. Unfortunately, the "fix" does not restore the reader mode zoom function to what it was prior to FF 69. FF 69.0.1 does increase the maximum zoom, but it's not as high as pre FF 69.

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