Perhaps your problem with websites stem not from colors or flashing and moving objects, but the size of the text. Is it all simply too small to read? Or maybe you have difficulty placing the cursor (the marker your mouse controls) in the spot where you want it to go? There are some very easy solutions to these, more than common, problems.

Engineers strive to make technical components smaller, lighter, and more portable. An admirable goal, but in the process we seem to have forgotten the limits of the human body. Older eyes cannot see tiny little print. Young fingers cannot isolate tiny little buttons or manipulate thin wands on tiny little screens. Anyone with the slightest muscle control problem, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, or even an unexpected spasm can have difficulty using high tech mice with all those little buttons and scrollers. Even our keyboards have shrunk.

Here are a few tips for those who want to use the Internet but have until now found it too difficult to manage physically.

1. Try a trackball instead of the conventional mouse. It works just like a mouse except the button is typically clicked with the thumb, a much stronger finger than the others; and the rolling part is on top, so you move your arm rather than your hand. This actually provides better control over cursor placement.

2. Set your Internet browser Display settings to the lowest Resolution possible. Older monitors will let you go down to 640×480; later models may only go down to 800×600. Most websites are set to display at 800×600, so you will need to scroll back and forth as well as up and down to see the entire page, but to actually be able to see the page is worth it.

3. Under your browser’s View, pull-down menu is an option to change the Text Size. Increase the size of the text until it is comfortable for you. You can repeat this procedure multiple times. Newer computers can increase the size of the text almost as much as screen readers for the legally blind.

These three simple steps may prove the difference between enjoying the Internet and avoiding it. Happy Surfing!