I feel embarrassed when people comment on my screen settings. I know this is ridiculous, please help me get over it.

[BurningRubber]

I started a new job a few months ago and one of the systems I have to use is really old. I didn't realise this before taking on the job and tbh I wouldn't have taken the job if I did realise because it is causing me no end of problems. The system has very small text. I have keratoconus which makes small text look blurry and unfortunately I also use drops and creams for high eye pressure and corneal erosion which also makes close work blurry. Basically my eyes are a bit rubbish but most of the time it's not a problem as you can enlarge screens and have read aloud and that's what I do. But this system is so old that none of this works on it. The only thing I can do is have it on a separate screen and change the settings and tbh it still looks weird and I have to do things like scroll across and down the window to reach the end of a line. I actually hate it! But what I also hate is colleagues coming up to my desk and saying things like "ooh your screen looks funny" or "I can't look at things on your screen, can't you change it back?" Also if someone is trying to show me a new part/process of the system they're doing it on their screen, and I can't see it. I have to write down what they say word for word and then when I'm back on my screen work out how it corresponds.

Actually reading through all that I'm thinking that I can't keep doing this job 😞 But also I get very put on edge by all the comments.

Surely if you explain the problem to colleagues and line manager they'll stop making the comments and make reasonable adjustments for you?

Get onto software support and see if they have a solution.

Line manager is aware and also is aware that I'm making the best of a bad job. I don't really want to have to tell every person I work with about my eyes! It's personal!

(I know I've written it in here but you don't know who I am.)

Tell them your eye issues. It will make them squirm and then stop the comments.

I have the same - I had a keraring in one eye and corneal graft in the other. Also adjust my setting a lot and for a whole copied my students work to a3 for marking 😂😂

I ended up very blunt about it. If anyone mentioned anything my response was along the lines of my eyesight is degeneratively terrible so this helps prevent eye strain and headaches and means I can actually do my job

now, I am perhaps even more so as people comment on the size of my laptop: I had a corneal graft and need a large screen to be able to see properly.

i practiceda LOT asking for what i needed eg making screens bigger or working on my system not theirs, and used the phrase ‘reasonable adjustment’ to ensure I get resources in an read properly. Especially as it felt students were well accommodated for - to not do so for staff felt careless and I was fed up with it

people don’t mean to make light or make you feel weird, I’m sure you know. They’re passing a comment that they don’t think any thing of or just for something to say. My bluntness isn’t meant to make them uncomfortable either but to point out that people probably don’t do this for fun but because it’s necessary. Although if I chose to have my screen on a permanent pink background that’s entirely up to me too

They don't. I have asked. What I'm doing is as good as it's going to get.

I would do two things:

1. Speak to line manager and get whatever reasonable adjustments you need to help you do the job you were employed to do.

1. I'd put a sign on my screen saying "I have keratoconus...Google it"...or if I was less fired up, I'd send an email explaining the situation.

It sounds like a frustrating and uncomfortable condition and I really admire you for finding a way to do your job...which is actually part of your employers job.

Are you coming to a point where people will have asked you the issue and moved on from it? Surely people will only ask once about the screen?

I’m sorry this is upsetting you so much. I hope you can find a solution.

You don’t have to go in massive details about your eyes. Just tell them you have a vision impairment and you need reasonable adjustments. Maybe a larger screen, use of iPad Pro, better software on the computer , NVDA or Zoomtext installed etc

@NewJobNewMeNewLife you'd think so but no, it's the same comments every time 😞 from people who have seen my massive bastardised screen multiple times 😞 but still feel the impulse to comment on it. I think it won't get old for them. It sure does for me though.

Bloody hell that sounds so frustrating
Cant IT get you a bigger screen or set two to show as single screen?

tbh I think either your screen is not that strange looking or your colleagues are rude - if someone has a screen set with huge text etc then it's obvious they have a vision impairment (my mother does & no one would look at her screens & think she'd just set them strangely- it's obvious they are enlarged to help her)
i know it feels personal to discus but maybe you could just say it's on the advice of your optician? Thereby making it "not your fault" but also not revealing medical information

@LottieMary thank you! I'm sorry you've had this too. As I'm sure you know day to day it's all fine on phones and tablets and even most jobs with vaguely recent software, things are so much easier to manage, but these particular old systems that are in academic environments, not so much. I had no idea it was all so inaccessible. Like you say they pay all the lip service about inclusion but don't give much of a crap about people who can't see stuff! Stupid thick tiny letters!

You don’t need to go into medical detail but you should tell people you need the text to be a certain size to see it. And don’t let them try to show you how to do something on text that’s too small. You need to just stand up for yourself a bit more. It’s a perfectly reasonable adjustment.

This is in our family so I understand the challenges you are facing. You've made a reasonable adjustment but it then does look odd to other people. You either have to accept that other people don't understand why your screen looks unusual, or you have to help them understand. That's your choice. They won't stop commenting if they don't have the information which would stop them commenting.

Personally, I don't think disability is anything to hide or be ashamed of so I'd just explain. And that will get easier every time you do it. But if you choose not to tell people, you'll have to put up with the responses that annoy you. It's not fair, and it is annoying, but the only thing you can change in this situation is your own response.

You're being a bit unreasonable by not saying something at the time like "I need it like that due to my eye sight" or "it's a reasonable adjustment so I can work". None of that is personal but makes the point that it's not a choice for you to have the screen like that.

I often mishear due to needing to lip read. I ask people to repeat themselves now and explain my poor hearing if they comment. Occasionally I need a quiet room for meetings etc and I ask. At first people commented. Now they know why.

@BurningRubber pretty sure that under health and safety laws, the employer must provide the approprate tools for you to do your job with your illness in mind! speak to HR dept about this problem! it also means that moving to a different department at the same employer, you also take your equipment with you to the next department!

Ok, I guess I am embarrassed, also I don't know these people well and when they comment they act like they're annoyed, so I don't feel able to talk freely when someone is annoyed

I know that's my issue.

You have a right to reasonable adjustments in the workplace. Ask HR about this if your line manager is being useless.

Regarding the comments, I would just make it known in a polite manner that you have issues with your eyes and don't need the help thanks. Just rinse and repeat. I know it's a pain but say it again and again until it sticks or just smile and ignore.

Honestly I'd just tell them. You don't have to into the ins and outs of it. Dh is pretty deaf, even with his hearing aids in he still struggles. He just says something like sorry mate, I'm deaf as a post, you'll have to speak up or sorry if I'm shouting, I'm deaf etc. Everyone understands and it's no big deal.

Having a disability is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. Most people at some point have something up with them whether it's dodgy eyes, a dodgy hip, bad back etc

Embarrassed about what? Just saY “I can’t see the small text, I have to use reasonable adjustments.”

I am sorry you are going through this. Two practical suggestions for you. Many years ago a colleague in a similar position had a large magnifying glass set up in front of his monitor. Would something like that work for you? Alternatively do you have a meeting room with a projector in your office? We use one for training so many people can look at the screen at once. My colleague with eyesight issues sat right at the front.

I have a huge laptop because of my poor eyesight. It's so big it shouldn't really qualify as a laptop. People comment but I just say I have poor eyesight and need a big screen.

Have you tried a screen magnifier by the way? Also, maybe speak to the RNIB, they are incredibly helpful and supportive,they may have some suggestions to help.

If you are in UK
What does access for work?

Why do they sound annoyed? It's your screen.

Get a LARGE text sign for your desk that says NOT All Disabilities are Visible.

If they are making you repeatedly feel like your medical condition annoys them that's a THEM issue not a you issue at all and their behaviour is discrimination in the workplace. You are making adjustments to help you work with outdated systems, you are not a hindrance to them.