"No Websites For Old Men" Topic

With my failing eyesight (just turned 64), it's becoming harder and harder to see stuff online (even with my 21-inch monitor), especially on sites that still utilize those old early 2000s prepackaged DIY layouts.
You know what I'm talking about: Massive illustrative borders of innocuous but completely unnecessary design elements on the left and right side of the page that each take up up about 20% to 25% of the layout, leaving at best a roughly an 1100 pixel width for 1. the main column and 2. the ubiquitous Links column.
Such old school prepackaged layouts often force photos to be tiny (yeah, I know they expand when you click on them) as well as minimize the size of non-headline text (something at best in the 8 pt region which, alas, can only be enlarged by zooming in on the entire page or tweaking preferences). Sometimes captions are attached to the photos, which is helpful when clicking on to the photo chain, but usually they are not.
Reading stories and reports on such pages can be chaotic, what with all the linking and zooming and squinting. Not a seamless transition by any means.
Which is a shame, given the time, expertise and obvious love for the hobby that goes into them. Great content, but the obsolete layout hampers the reader experience.
But then again, I'm becoming an old man. One who often barks at the wind. So whatta I know?
Still, any of you other grognards ever experience this situation?

I'm 69 and wear trifocles. I've run across some pages and have a pop-up ask "Change to reading mode?". You click that and all the malarkey goes away leaving just some nice, clean print to scroll through. Not sure if that might be something for you to look into….junior.

I'm 66 and have been using varifocals for nearly 20 years.

If desperate try copying the text and then "paste special", "unformatted text" into a word processor file, where you can set the font and text size you prefer.

I am 72 and am having issues reading on my computer, period. I switch to dark mode (white print on black background) whenever I can. I am seeing an opthomalogyst soon to look into cataract surgery. Hopefully, that can solve my issues. eye glasses correction appears to have gone as far as it can go. Good luck with your situation.

Rusty,
I had cataract surgery two months ago on both eyes. I don't remember when I could see better than I see now. Go for it.
Cigar

Thanks, Cigar, for the encouragement! I am hoping it will allow me to see properly without glasses for the first time since second grade. Then I need to work on my hearing.

I actually had my second cataract op yesterday. Things are still settling down, but my optician suggested that once it has settled, I might no longer need glasses for distance vision but probably still will for reading. I suppose it depends on the individual's eyes. So I'd say go for it, Rusty, but be aware the surgery might not fix everything.

sites that still utilize those old early 2000s prepackaged DIY layouts

Oh, like TMP!

Pinch and zoom helps. I only need to see the main column.

On windows, you can use the magnifier to zoom in and have the center column fill the screen. Leave the ads, links column, menu column, etc off to the sides.
I've gone a different route: hooked up my laptop to the big screen TV.

Oh, like TMP!

I thought he was describing FaceBook.

I had cataract surgery, both eyes, about two years ago. Definite improvement. Now can go without glasses most of the time. One of the major medical advances of my lifetime.

I'm 55 and have bilateral lipid keratopathy. At 49 I attained the distinction of "Legally Blind", so I can empathise with you ol' timers.

Yes, dark mode helps, but I am at the stage where I have to use Windows' built-in Magnifier app set to Lens, 200%. It helps a great deal. Though it has its problems it has meant I can still use the computer, after a fashion.

Web page design has evolved a great deal over the years and, to me, seems to have moved from a reading-based information resource like back in the Bulletin Board days to a more Quick-Glance Click-Through Clickbait entertainment/time filler.