Senior-Friendly Tips: How to Turn On Roku’s Closed Captions & Make Text Bigger

By Phillip Swann
TV For Seniors
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Can you tell me how to make closed captions big on our TV screen? I have trouble hearing the words these days so I really need some help. Thank you. – Laura, Easton, Maryland.

Laura, many senior citizens have difficulty hearing the dialogue in today’s shows and movies. As we get older, our hearing is not quite what it used to be, right? And not only that, some filmmakers sometimes layer surround sound effects over the dialogue which can make it even more difficult!

The good news is that making TV closed captions bigger and easier to read is pretty simple on smart TVs and streaming devices. You start by going to your TV or device’s Settings button in the Menu. After clicking Settings, hit the Accessibility or Closed Captions button. From there, you will see an option to change the text size, the font and even the color.

Each device and TV may have a slightly different procedure. For example, on Roku, you go to Settings, Accessibility, Captions and then toggle between your choice for text size etc. For Amazon’s Fire TV streaming devices, you go to Settings, Accessibility, Subtitles and then Captioning. But the basic concept is the same for all TVs and devices.

I think you’ll find that using Closed Captions with large type on screen will enhance your enjoyment and understanding of your show or movie. You will likely find that you no longer have to go online to research plot points and other elements. With Closed Captions, you will catch every word as it’s said!

Below you will see some graphics explaining how to do this on different devices:

Last note: If you want to turn off Closed Captions, just go back to the Closed Captions button in your TV or device’s Settings and toggle back to Off. It’s that simple.

Laura, I hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

Display image created by AI.