Page zooming

In computing, page zooming is the ability to zoom in and out at page level. It is usually found in applications related to document layout and publishing, e.g. word processing and spreadsheet programs, but it can also be found in some web browsers as it improves accessibility for people with visual impairment and people using handheld devices which have a relatively small screen.

While most web browsers have the ability to resize the text on a page, some cannot truly zoom a page. Page zooming and text resizing are two very different things; in page zooming, not only text, but also images, other multimedia objects, and viewports are all resized. When zooming in, a horizontal scroll bar will appear when the screen is not large enough to hold the page content. In contrast, text resizing just increases the font size, with wrapping to avoid horizontal scrolling, leaving the size of the images the same.

This concept has also been extended to home entertainment devices. Most media players of recent generations such as DVD and Blu-Ray include (via buttons on a remote) the ability to "zoom" in and out, and to change the focus of the zoom in any direction in two dimensions.

Example programs

Web browsers

• Amaya
• iCab
• Internet Explorer
• Opera browser
• Firefox (as of Firefox 3)

Office suites

• Microsoft Office
• OpenOffice.org

See also

• Resolution independence