Musk Confirms Bigger Text Option Coming to Tesla Screens

Tesla’s touchscreen text is about to get bigger. After a post on X about an elderly driver who struggled to read the screen, Elon Musk replied directly, “We will add a large font option to the UI.”

The original post came from Stephen Fleming, who was demonstrating Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to an elderly neighbor. Fleming said she lives alone, no longer drives at night because of poor vision, and would be ready to buy a Tesla, except the text on the screen is too small, “even with the display adjusted to large print.” He suggested adding an option for a more accessible UI with a “minimum 48-point type.”

Tesla’s Current Text Size Options

Tesla already offers a larger text option. It added a Large text size back in 2023, and with software update 2023.20, it became available in all supported languages. To change font size, you can go to Controls > Display > Text Size and choose between Normal and Large. The car needs to reboot each time you switch.

Not a Tesla App

The current Large setting has limits, though. The bigger text already barely fits in some areas of the UI, and as Fleming pointed out, it still isn’t big enough for some older drivers.

Why Accessibility Matters for FSD

Older drivers are one of the best use cases for FSD (Supervised) and Tesla’s future unsupervised plans. People who can no longer drive, or don’t want to, especially at night, stand to benefit the most. Tesla is still working to solve unsupervised nighttime driving for its Robotaxi fleet, with Musk recently saying the main challenge is spotting and avoiding pets in the dark.

If screen text size is keeping those customers away, that’s a problem for Tesla. Accessibility has been a focus elsewhere, too. The Cybercab has wheelchair-height seats and Braille markings on its cabin buttons.

More Than Just Bigger Text

A truly accessible UI for drivers with low vision would need more than just a larger font. It could also include bigger touch targets and bolder text in key areas, similar to the accessibility-focused options we suggested in our article on UI themes for Tesla’s touchscreen.

Fitting much larger text onto the screen will likely require changes to the layout itself. Tesla could be working on a more responsive UI that dynamically adjusts based on the selected font size. It’s unclear whether that would apply to everyone or only switch on with accessibility settings like this upcoming larger font.

Musk didn’t say when the option will arrive. But with Tesla’s Holiday Update due out in a couple of months, it could be a good fit for the year’s biggest software release.