Mobile Web font too small, does not respect system default (iOS/Safari/Webkit)

[dredmorbius]

Request: Please configure the Diaspora Web client, including Mobile and especially Safari / Webkit, to respect user system font preferences, and to allow zoomable font sizes, preferably with the viewport filling the screen at all zoom levels without horizontal overflow scroll.

This is a usability / accessibility issue.

A third-party report:

Really, the biggest problem I have with Diaspora is that the mobile web interface sucks. The typeface is too small to read for more than a few minutes even with my reading glasses on, and there is no way to change it.

So, every week or so, I logon again and after reading one message, leave because my eyes hurt.

There is NO iOS app for diaspora, other than a front end to choose pods that theb uses an embedded browser to the mobile website. I have a large font size set on my phone, but the pluspora.com mobile site ignores it and hardcodes a teeny tiny typeface. I haven’t figured out how to work around it yet. As a result, I simply can’t use diaspora for more than a few minutes without getting a headache. I’ve been using it for about 5 minutes, and my head is already pounding. Back to MeWe for me, where I can at least read. :-(

I am using the web interface from my browser. That’s the only interface there is! And, no matter how big I set the type size, pluspora.com seems to be overriding it and showing tiny type

Screenshot: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yx3aXMMXsm88cSnn6

As reported by @brianhawthrrne@pluspora.com in comments on this thread.

[Flaburgan]

Thank you for your feedback! This is a problem we were not aware of. Can you please confirm me that it is happening with plain Safari when browsing the website? Also, I'm not familiar with iOS and don't have any device to reproduce yet but will try to find one, can you please tell me where to go in the settings to change the font-size, so I can try to reproduce and write a patch?

[HankG]

Thank you for your feedback! This is a problem we were not aware of. Can you please confirm me that it is happening with plain Safari when browsing the website? Also, I'm not familiar with iOS and don't have any device to reproduce yet but will try to find one, can you please tell me where to go in the settings to change the font-size, so I can try to reproduce and write a patch?

I can try this in both the responsive site and the mobile site on an iPhone

[Flaburgan]

How do you change the system font size in iOS?

[HankG]

How do you change the system font size in iOS?

There is a setting under the General->Accessibility settings. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to do anything for websites running in Safari just the Safari controlls. I went to a dozen major websites, including Google's main landing page, and none of them zoom their fonts they way they would on the desktop.