19. Adjust the Screen and Keyboard  BEFORE YOU BEGIN 1 About the BlackBerry User Interface
 SEE ALSO 7 Choose a Theme 21 Change the Wallpaper 22 Install a New Theme
Alongside the trackwheel, the screen and keyboard represent the primary hardware components in the BlackBerry user interface. We all have different eyesight and hand/eye coordination abilities , so it only makes sense that you'll want to customize the screen and keyboard settings to suit your specific needs. The screen font is one of the key customizations you can make. If your vision can stand it, I recommend sizing the font a bit smaller so you can fit more information on the screen. Speaking of the screen, you can alter the brightness to accommodate varying amounts of ambient lighting. Because the screen brightness directly impacts battery life, you should lower the brightness when you're in a dimly lit area that doesn't require as much backlighting. The keyboard settings consist of adding a tone to every key presswhich can honestly get a bit annoyingand adjusting the key rate. The key rate impacts the speed of cursor moves when you hold down the Backspace, Enter , or Space key, as well as the speed at which a letter is converted to uppercase when you hold down a letter key while typing. | 1. | Open the Tools Screen
Scroll to the Tools icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Tools screen appears, offering a list of tools options.
| | 2. | Open the Settings Screen Scroll to the Settings icon and click the trackwheel. A list of options for which you can change the settings appears. 19. Adjust the Screen and Keyboard  | | 3. | Open the Screen/Keyboard Screen
Scroll to the Screen/Keyboard option in the list of settings and click the trackwheel. The Screen/Keyboard screen opens.
| | 4. | Customize the Font Settings The first block of settings on the Screen/Keyboard screen involves the font used throughout the BlackBerry operating system. The default font settings depend on the theme you have selected. To change the font family, scroll the trackwheel to select the Font Family field and click the trackwheel; then click Change Option in the menu that appears. A list of alternative font family options appears.  TIP To quickly change an option without having to go through the two trackwheel clicks required to open a menu and select Change Option , highlight the option and press the Alt key to view a list of choices. Then scroll to the desired choice and click the trackwheel to select it. An even faster shortcut involves cycling to the next available choice by pressing the Space key; pressing Shift + Space cycles to the previous choice. You can also jump immediately to a choice by typing the first character in the choice's name . Scroll the trackwheel through the list of alternative font families, and click to accept the choice you've made. You might notice that the sample text below the font fields changes as you scroll through the list of font families. The Font Size and Font Style fields are used to further customize the font by changing its size and appearance. Use the trackwheel to select and modify these settings as desired, being sure to pay attention to the sample text as you make changes. Some font selections might eliminate the Antialias mode option, which simply means you won't be able to turn antialiasing on and off for the fontthe font either uses antialiasing automatically or doesn't use it at all. TIP If you don't have a problem reading small text, you might find that a smaller font is useful because it allows your device to present more information on the screen. Similarly, you might opt for a larger font if you tend to be more farsighted. | | 5. | Tweak the Screen Settings
The screen settings on the Screen/Keyboard screen consist of Backlight Brightness, Backlight Timeout , and LED Coverage Indicator . The Backlight Brightness option determines the brightness of the screen's backlight as a value in the range from (dark) to 100 (bright); 100 is the default setting. If you're working in a poorly lit area, you might require less brightness and be able to lower this value, which helps save battery life. Just click the trackwheel on the option and scroll to change the value.
The Backlight Timeout option is used to help preserve battery life by automatically turning off the backlight when your device sits idle. You specify the amount of time (in seconds) that the device must sit idle before the backlight is turned off; the default setting is 30 seconds. If you find that your screen is turning off too quickly, you can increase this value a bit. Just keep in mind that the backlight is a big battery drain, so you should avoid having it on when you aren't actually using your device.
The LED Coverage Indicator option determines whether the device's LED flashes to indicate wireless network coverage. More specifically , the LED flashes green when you have a wireless network connection. This flash isn't always a desirable thing. As an example, it tends to act more as a strobe night light if you keep your device near your bed while traveling.
| | 6. | Fine-tune the Key Settings
The key settings are the last block of options in the Screen/Keyboard window. The Key Tone option allows your device to play a short tone in response to every key press. Most people find this option annoying when enabled, so you can stick with the default setting of Off . Try it by turning it On if you aren't sure.
The Key Rate option is a little more useful in that it allows you to alter the speed of cursor moves when you hold down the Backspace, Enter , or Space key. The Key Rate option also impacts the speed at which a letter is converted to uppercase when you hold down a letter key while typing. The default setting is Fast , which is probably acceptable unless you have trouble typing.
| | 7. | Exit and Save Changes
Press the Escape button to exit the Screen/Keyboard screen. If you made any changes, you're prompted to save or discard the changes. When prompted, scroll the trackwheel to the Save option and click to save the changes. You're then returned to the Settings screen. Press the Escape button twice to navigate back to the Home screen, or just press the End key once.
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