Configuring Universal Access Preferences


In the Universal Access pane, you can adjust the display and behavior of OS X to accommodate for different needs of sight and sound as well as to set up alternative methods of using the keyboard and mouse for individuals who have disabilities that preclude them from using the computer in standard configuration. Mouse Keys lets you use the numeric keypad portion of the keyboard to move the pointer on the screen and to click as if you were using the mouse button. Sticky Keys lets you type combination keystrokes such as z-O one key at a time. The Universal Access pane was introduced with Mac OS X 10.1. All four panels of the Universal Access pane show the same two checkboxes at the bottom of the window:

  • Enable access for assistive devices: Enables OS X to work with equipment, such as a screen reader.

  • Enable text-to-speech for Universal Access preferences: Placing the mouse cursor over labels and options in the Universal Access window causes OS X Speech to read that option aloud.

Enable access for assistive devices is off by default; Enable text-to-speech for Universal Access preference is on by default. The checkboxes for these two items are shown at the bottom of Figures 13-53, 13-54, 13-55, and 13-56.

Seeing panel

The Seeing panel, as shown in Figure 13-53, provides options to benefit people with different vision-oriented limitations. You can turn Zoom on and off, reverse the display to show white text on black background instead of black on white, and set the display to grayscale.

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Figure 13-53: For individuals with difficulty seeing, the Seeing panel of Universal Access provides vision-oriented display options.

Hearing panel

The Hearing panel, as shown in Figure 13-54, offers a full-screen flash option as a substitute for alert sounds, provides a test of the flash screen substitute, and provides a button to open the Sound System Preferences to adjust the sound volume.

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Figure 13-54: For individuals with difficulty hearing, the Hearing panel of Universal Access provides hearing-oriented display options.

Keyboard panel

Use the Keyboard panel, as shown in Figure 13-55, to set up the Sticky Keys feature for Mac OS X and Classic applications. If you turn on this feature, you can type a combination of modifier keys — z, Shift, Option, or Control — one key at a time. For example, you can type z-Shift-S (the standard keyboard shortcut for File Save As) by pressing the z, Shift, S one at a time.

Besides turning Sticky Keys on or off, you can set an option to hear a beep, not the system alert sound, when you press a modifier key. You can also set an option to see the symbols of modifier keys superimposed on the screen. If the option to use keyboard shortcuts is turned on at the top of Universal Access Preferences, you can turn Sticky Keys on or off by pressing Shift five times in succession.

When Sticky Keys is turned on, and the option to show modifier keys onscreen is also on, pressing a modifier key causes the key’s symbol to be superimposed on the screen. Press another modifier key, and its symbol is superimposed as well. Press the same modifier key a second time, and its symbol is removed. Press any other key to have it combined with the modifier keys whose symbols are currently superimposed on the screen. Press Esc to cancel all the modifier keys whose symbols are currently superimposed on the screen.

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Figure 13-55: Use the Set Key Repeat button as a shortcut for opening the Keyboard & Mouse preferences pane to adjust the key repeat delay time.

Mouse panel

Use the Mouse panel, as shown in Figure 13-56, to set up the Mouse Keys feature. If you turn on this feature, you can click, drag, and move the pointer with the numeric keypad instead of the mouse or trackpad.

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Figure 13-56: The Mouse panel also provides a button shortcut to the Keyboard & Mouse preferences pane, aptly titled Open Keyboard Preferences.

Tip

Mouse Keys is a very handy feature for moving graphic objects precisely. For this use, try setting the Initial Delay to Short.

The Mouse panel has the following settings:

  • On and Off: If the option to use keyboard shortcuts is selected at the top of Universal Access Preferences, you can turn Mouse Keys on or off by pressing the Option key five times.

  • Initial Delay: Determines how long you must hold down a keypad key before the pointer starts responding. As long as you keep pressing keypad keys to control the pointer, the delay does not recur. The delay occurs only with the first press of a key after a period during which you have not used the keypad for pointer control.

  • Maximum Speed: Determines how fast the pointer gets going if you keep holding down a key. You have better control with a slow speed, but moving the pointer across the screen takes longer.

When Mouse Keys is on, the 5 key in the keypad acts like a mouse button. Press once to click; press twice to double-click. The eight keys around 5 move the pointer left, right, up, down, and diagonally. Pressing 0 locks the mouse button down until you press the period key in the keypad. You do not have to hold down 0 like you hold down the actual mouse button.

Tip

If the pointer seems unresponsive, make the Initial Delay shorter and the Maximum Speed faster in Universal Access Preferences. Conversely, if you feel like you don’t have enough control over the pointer, make the Initial Delay longer and the Maximum Speed slower.




Mac OS X Bible, Panther Edition
Mac OS X Bible, Panther Edition
ISBN: 0764543997
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 290

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