Working Alternatives

Windows Vista provides several tools and settings that let you change the way you enter information into, or receive information from, the computer. These tools and settingsalthough designed primarily for people who experience difficulty when typing, using the mouse, seeing details on the screen, concentrating, or hearing soundscan be used by anyone who'd like to try different ways of working on the computer. For example, you can use the keyboard to execute mouse actions, or use the mouse or another pointing device for keyboard input.

You can access these tools and settings from the Ease of Access Center, or you can walk through a five-step wizard that tries to identify the best settings for your needs by choosing the Let Windows Suggest settings in the Ease Of Access section of the Control Panel. You can also access six tools and settings (Narrator, Magnifier, High Contrast, On-Screen Keyboard, Sticky Keys, and Filter Keys) from the Logon screen when you sign in by pressing the Windows key+U to display the Ease Of Access Center window.

Alternative Tools

Windows Vista provides four major tools to help you do your work.

Narrator: Reads aloud the text on your screen.

Magnifier: Enlarges the active section of your screen.

On-Screen Keyboard: Displays a keyboard on your screen; you then use the mouse or another pointing device to type your text.

Speech Recognition: Recognizes your voice commands and standard dictation commands.

Alternative Settings

Windows Vista provides numerous settings that help you work, some of which change the way Windows works and others that adjust the look of your screen. The most common settings are listed below.

StickyKeys: Sets key combinations with the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift keys to be pressable one key at a time.

FilterKeys: Ignores repeated characters or too-rapid key presses.

ToggleKeys: Makes different sounds when you turn the Caps Lock, Num Lock, or Scroll Lock key on or off.

SoundSentry: Flashes a specified screen component when the system beeps.

High Contrast: Sets the color scheme for Windows Vista to High Contrast to improve the visibility of components.

MouseKeys: Sets the numeric keypad to control mouse movements.

You can also adjust the general Windows Vista environment by changing the size and color of the mouse, execute mouse actions by pointing (hovering) instead of clicking, underlining access and shortcut keys, and setting the duration for which notification dialog boxes that appear from the notification area of the taskbar are shown. Other settings depend on whether a program or a file supports those featuresturning off unnecessary animations, for example, or removing backgrounds, showing text captions for spoken dialog, or providing audio descriptions of actions in videos.