Free Materials For Teachers

Image©2009 ABS No Scrollbars Allowed
No Scrollbars!

Are scrollbars showing up in Clicker 5® activities you download from the Attic?  Got students who cannot access them and get to all the text? Do some text boxes have text that is out of sight? Here is how to make the scrollbars go away and get all the text to show! Note: There is a link to download a PDF version of this tip at the bottom of the page.

Activities Start Out Scrollbar Free
When I develop these activities, I always keep special needs access in mind. I am aware that it’s difficult to access scrollbars using a switch, so when I create the activity, I make sure the text fits on each page without the need for scrollbars.  It’s a consideration for all students, actually, since you want all the text to show in order to print out the grids.

Image©2009 ABS Screen sot showing text box with some text obscured
Activity Displayed Full Screen
Proportion Is The Key
Unfortunately, that only applies to the monitor on which I compose the activity.  An activity that works just fine  on my monitor might break out in scrollbars when you open it, if your monitor is a different size and shape.

Or, if the text box is set for no scrollbars, some of the text might be off the screen, as in this example from Inventions. Why? Because not only do monitors differ in size and resolution, they also are not all the same shape. It’s the change in proportion that causes the problem.

Luckily, there is a way around this.  By adjusting the size and shape of the activity on the screen, you can find a proportion that lets all the text show without the need for scrollbars.  Here’s how!

Image©2009 ABS screen shots of the Maximize window toggle icons for Mac and Win
Find the Maximize Toggle

Is It Displayed Full Screen?
Probably the activity opens for you at full screen.  If so, then the first step is to make the activity resizable on the screen.  You can do that by clicking the Maximize toggle icon.  This makes the activity full screen if it’s not already so, or toggles back from full screen to a previous smaller size, with a resize handle. Once you have the activity displayed at less than full screen, you can change both its size and its shape.

Image©2009 ABS Screen shots of resize handles in Mac and Win
The Resize Handle
Changing The Size And Shape
First move the activity to the left, upper part of your screen. Grab the resize handle, a little triangle in the lower right corner.  Pull on this to enlarge the activity. Notice that you can change the width and height independently.

By experimenting a bit, you can find a shape that lets all the text show without needing scrollbars.  Typically, this will be a shape as tall as your screen but not the full width, like this adjusted window from Inventions.  Once you have adjusted the size and shape, you can move the activity back to the center of the screen, just so you do not change the shape.

Image©2009 ABS Screen shot of activity with window shape adjusted
Adjusted Clicker 5 Window
The Size And Shape Revert
This change is not permanent. The size the window opens when you first start Clicker 5® can be set under Program Management. Once the window opens at this default size, go ahead and open the activity you want. You can then adjust its size and shape as I’ve described in this post. I’ve observed that the next grid set opens to the size and shape of the previous one. This means that if you adjust the size and shape of the first grid set in a group of activities, the others should be okay when they open until you quit out of Clicker 5.

Application needed: Clicker 5, Acrobat Reader
Subject area: Tip.
Level: All.

Downloads-Handout

ClickerWindowShapeTip.pdf (1.0 MB) Clicker 5 Window Shape Tip to print. Acrobat Reader.

Clicker Window Shape Tip online tutorial. Clicker Window Shape Tip online, ready to present to groups.

June 10th, 2009 at 1:29 am

 

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