Power BI’s April (2026) update finally introduced larger canvas sizes, and the community has been buzzing about the new design possibilities. More space, more flexibility, more room to breathe.
But there’s still a missing piece in the conversation, one that directly affects accessibility and readability.
What happens to font size when the canvas gets bigger?
It’s easy to assume that a larger canvas automatically improves clarity. In reality, the opposite can happen if we don’t adjust our typography.
The Baseline We’ve Always Worked With
Before this update, the standard 16:9 canvas size in Power BI was 1280 × 720. On that canvas, 12 pt has long been the minimum accessible font size I recommend. It’s the threshold where text remains readable across laptops, browser windows, and embedded reports.
But now that we can increase the canvas size, something important changes.
Bigger Canvas ≠ Bigger Text
When we increase the canvas size, we’re increasing pixel dimensions, not the physical size of the screen where the report is viewed.
That means:
- The canvas gets more pixels
- The screen stays the same
- Our visuals and text now occupy a smaller proportion of the available space
Visually, it behaves like zooming out.
A 12 pt font on a 2160‑pixel‑high canvas looks noticeably smaller than the same 12 pt on a 720‑pixel‑high canvas. And if it looks smaller, it is harder to read.
So when the canvas scales, our font sizes need to scale too.
A clean, Proportional Way to Scale Font Sizes
For 16:9 canvases, the most consistent way to scale fonts is by using the canvas height.
Standard heights follow a simple pattern:
- 720
- 1080
- 1440
- 2160
Each step is a clean multiplier:
- 1080 = 1.5×
- 1440 = 2×
- 2160 = 3×
If our baseline is 12 pt at 1280 × 720, the proportional sizes become:
- 1920 × 1080 → 18 pt
- 2560 × 1440 → 24 pt
- 3840 × 2160 → 36 pt
All of this comes from one straightforward formula:
Once we understand the ratio, we can apply it to any baseline. See below an example of what happens when we do not scale our font size, and the difference it makes when we do.
Why This Matters for Accessibility and Design
Scaling font sizes shapes how our audience experience a report. When we increase the canvas without increasing the typography, the entire page begins to feel “zoomed out”. Text shrinks in proportion to the layout, hierarchy becomes less clear, and the visual rhythm that normally guides us through the content starts to weaken.
Proportional scaling helps avoiding that. It keeps text readable, maintains the relationship between headings, labels, and body content, and ensures that our design feels consistent across different canvas sizes and viewing contexts. It also strengthens accessibility by reducing the need for users to zoom in, strain, or guess at meaning because the text has become too small relative to the space around it.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Until next time, let’s keep crafting accessible and ethical insights that make a difference!
