Using Accessibility Control Panel Options

In addition to the accessory programs, you can use one of several Control Panel options. For instance, you can adjust settings, such as the size of the text display. You can also use the Accessibility Wizard to select options suited for particular needs. This section covers both.

Using the Accessibility Wizard

To start the Accessibility Wizard, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start and then click Control Panel. You'll see the various Control Panel options.
2.	Click Accessibility Options. You'll see the options available for this Control Panel group (see Figure 23.5). Figure 23.5. Use the Accessibility Options Control Panel to set options and use the Accessibility Wizard.
3.	Click Configure Windows To Work For Your Vision, Hearing, and Mobility Needs to start the Accessibility Wizard.
4.	Click Next to move past the welcome screen. You'll see the first screen, which lets you select the text size. If larger text would, for instance, make the computer easier to use, select one of the various text size options (see Figure 23.6). Figure 23.6. Select a different text size to make the text easier to read.
5.	Select a text size option and then click Next. You'll see additional options for the display, including changing the font size, using Magnifier (covered earlier in this chapter), and disabling personalized menus (see Figure 23.7). Figure 23.7. You can select additional display options.
6.	Select the display options that control the size of text and other items and click Next. You'll see additional special needs (see Figure 23.8). Figure 23.8. Select display options in the Accessibility Wizard.
7.	Complete the wizard, turning on various features for a particular special need and clicking Next to move through the options. For instance, if you have problems with the keyboard, the wizard prompts you to turn on StickyKeys (covered later).
8.	After making your selections, click Finish.

The options you selected are then put into effect.

Modifying Accessibility Options

In addition to the wizard, you can view and select other accessibility options. These are the same options that appear in the wizard when you select your special needs in step 6. The wizard simply selects the most appropriate options for you. With the dialog box method, you can select from all the options.

To view and select these options, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start and then click Control Panel.
2.	In the Control Panel window, click Accessibility Options.
3.	In the Accessibility Options window, click Accessibility Options again. You'll see the Accessibility Options dialog box (see Figure 23.9). Figure 23.9. Select the tab and then turn on the options you want to use.
4.	By default, the Keyboard tab is displayed. Click any of the tabs and turn on any additional options by checking the appropriate check boxes.
5.	Click OK.

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You can select the following options:

On the Keyboard tab, you can turn on StickyKeys (which allows you to press one key at a time, instead of simultaneous keystrokes), FilterKeys (which ignores brief or repeated keystrokes), or ToggleKeys (which plays tones when you press Caps Lock, Num Lock, or Scroll Lock).
On the Sound tab, you can turn on the SoundSentry (which displays visual warnings in conjunction with playing system sounds) or ShowSounds (which instructs programs to display captions for sounds). Figure 23.10 shows these options.

Figure 23.10. Use this tab to select sound options.
On the Display tab, you can turn on High Contrast (which uses alternative colors and font sizes to improve screen contrast). You can also select the blink rate for the cursor, as well as its width.
On the Mouse tab, you can turn on MouseKeys if you want to control the mouse pointer using the keys on the numeric keypad.
On the General tab, you can set general options, such as whether a feature is turned off after being idle for a set amount of time, whether you see or hear a sound when a feature is turned on or off, and others (see Figure 23.11).

Figure 23.11. The General tab controls options such as when notification warnings sound.

The Absolute Minimum

If you have special needs, it's worthwhile to explore the many features designed to make the computer as accessible as possible. You can use any of the following features:

Windows XP includes several accessibility programs including Magnifier (which enlarges the view of your screen), Narrator (which reads the contents of your screen aloud ), and On-Screen Keyboard (which enables you to type onscreen using a pointing device).
You can use the Accessibility Wizard to turn on additional features, such as enlarging the text size.
You can also access accessibility options that control your hardware (sound, keyboard, mouse, and display) from the Control Panel. You can use these options to make these components more suited to your needs.