E-mail messages in Outlook 2003 appear with a smaller font when you use the Windows XP High Contrast Accessibility Option (817963)

SYMPTOMS

When you configure your Microsoft Windows XP Accessibility Option to display your Microsoft Windows desktop by using High Contrast with the High Contrast Black (large) scheme, your list of e-mail messages in Outlook 2003 appear in a much smaller font size than the one that you specified in the scheme.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because the Windows XP High Contrast Accessibility Option does not always modify the font size of the text that appears in dialog or text boxes. The user interface elements that are resized by the High Contrast setting varies from program to program. Generally, only the top level controls and menu items are resized.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, adjust the font size for the view in Outlook 2003. To do this, follow these steps:

On the View menu, point to Arrange By, point to Current View, and then click Customize Current View.
Click Other Settings.
Click Row Font.
In the Size box, type the font size that you want to use for your e-mail list, and then click OK three times.

MORE INFORMATION

The Windows XP High Contrast Accessibility Option improves screen contrast with alternative colors and font sizes. Microsoft Outlook views may be used on a number of clients, including Terminal Servers or kiosks. Both the Terminal Servers and kiosks clients may not have uniformly configured Accessibility Options, and each Outlook user view must be redrawn according to the configuration of the Accessibility Options on that client. Outlook is not designed to identify the Accessibility Options that are configured on the Outlook client.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.