Accessibility Options


Microsoft has made a point of increasing computer accessibility for people who are physically challenged in one way or another. Over the last half decade, Microsoft has increasingly included accessibility options in its operating systems, with features that allow many handicapped people to use Windows without major machine or software modifications.

Many people have difficulty seeing characters on the screen, and others have trouble typing on the keyboard or controlling the mouse. People who are partially paralyzed or who have muscle-coordination problems have been at a disadvantage with computers for a long time. Now, with these accessibility options, the playing field is being leveled at least somewhat. Even if you are not disabled, some of the Accessibility options may prove useful for you.

Accessibility options are broken down into several categories, with their respective tabs: Keyboard, Sounds, Display, Mouse, and a few others on the General tab.

Accessibility Keyboard Settings

The keyboard settings deal with such problems as accidentally repeating keys or pressing combinations of keys. These options fall into three categories: Sticky keys, Filter keys, and Toggle keys.

Sticky keys are settings that, in effect, stay "down" when you press them once. They are good for controlling the function of the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift keys if you have trouble pressing two keys at the same time. To use them, set the Sticky keys option on; then choose the sub-options as you see fit. For some users, the shortcut of pressing the Shift key five times is a good way to activate Sticky keys. If you turn on this activation method, note that pressing the Shift key five times again turns off Sticky keys. This trick isn't explained clearly in the dialogs. Also, if you choose the Press Modifier Key Twice to Lock option, that means you press, for example, Shift twice to lock it. You can then press Shift twice again to unlock it.

Filter keys let you "filter" (remove) accidental repeated keystrokes in case you have trouble pressing a key cleanly once and letting it up. This feature prevents you from typing multiple keystrokes. The shortcut key for turning on this feature works like the one for Sticky keys; it's a toggle.

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Filter keys, when activated, can make it seem that your keyboard has ceased working unless you are very deliberate with keypresses. You have to press a key and keep it down for several seconds for the key to register. If you activate this setting and want to turn it off, the easiest solution is to use the mouse to run or switch to the Control Panel (via the taskbar), run the Accessibility Options applet, turn off Filter Keys, and click Apply or OK.


The Toggle keys option, when turned on, sounds a high-pitched tone when Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, and Num Lock keys are activated and a low-pitched tone when they're turned off again.

Each of these three keyboard features can be used independently or together. Note that a slowdown in performance occurs at the keyboard if sounds are used, because the sound is generated by playing a WAV file that briefly eats up your system resources. Processing of keypresses doesn't commence until after the keyboard sound finishes, which can result in jerky performance.

When Sticky keys or Filter keys are turned on, a symbol appears in the system tray. The Sticky keys feature is indicated by the three small boxes, representative of the Ctrl, Alt, and Shift keys. The Filter keys feature is represented by the stopwatch, which is representative of the different key timing that goes into effect when the option is enabled.

Accessibility Sound Settings

The two Accessibility sound settingsSound Sentry and ShowSoundsare for those with hearing impairments. Instead of playing a sound when an error message or other event that causes a sound occurs, some type of visual display appears onscreen.

With Sound Sentry, a portion of the normal Windows screen blinks, typically the window or application that is generating the error. With ShowSounds turned on, a text caption or special icon will pop up over a window or dialog box when a sound is played. The information in the pop-up window will inform you of the sound played and whether the audio clue as a warning, error, and so on.

If you choose Sound Sentry, you have a choice of the visual warning to use. The options are offered in a pull-down list which includes: Flash active caption bar, Flash active windows, and Flash desktop. Typically, you'll want the window of the application or at least its title bar to flash. Don't make the desktop flash because it won't indicate which program is producing the warning.

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Some programs are finicky about the sound options, especially ShowSounds. If they're not programmed correctly, they don't display a sound. Think of it like closed captioning for TV. Not all shows have it.


Accessibility Display Settings

Special display settings in the Accessibility Options applet increase the screen contrast by altering the display scheme. Using this applet really is just an easy way to set the display color scheme and font selection for easier reading, just as you could do from the Display applet, as discussed in Chapter 23. The big plus of setting the contrast here is that you can quickly call it up with a shortcut key combination when you need it. Just press Left-Alt, Left-Shift, Prnt Scrn, and the settings go into effect. I have found this feature useful for when my eyes are tired or in imperfect lighting situations. Figure 24.3 shows the effect it had while I was writing this chapter.

Figure 24.3. The effect of turning on the default high-contrast setting.


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You get to select which predefined color scheme (both Windows provided and ones you've created through the Display applet) will be used as the high contrast scheme. It's easier to observe the look of the schemes using the Display applet than in the Accessibility Options applet. Do it there, and then decide which one you like best. Then come back to the Accessibility dialog and make your choice.


Accessibility Mouse Settings

Using the Mouse Settings tab, you can control the mouse with the keypad, in case you have problems controlling your mouse's movements. This feature can bail you out in case your mouse dies for some reason, too, or if you simply don't like using the mouse. As is covered in Chapter 4, you can execute many Windows and Windows application commands using the keyboard shortcut keys. But sometimes an application still responds only to mouse movements and clicks. Graphics programs are a case in point. When you use this Accessibility option, your arrow keys do double duty, acting like pointer control keys.

To use this option, simply turn on Mouse Keys from the dialog box, and apply the change. Then, to activate the keys, press Left-Alt, Left-Shift, and Num Lock at the same time. The system tray should show a new icon. If the icon has a red line through it, Mouse keys are disabled, so press the Num Lock key to enable them.

Now you can move the pointer around the screen using the arrow keys on the numeric number pad. If you're using a laptop, you'll have to consult its manual to determine how to activate the numeric keypad. The normal arrow keys won't cut it.

Click the Settings button if you need to adjust the speed settings for the arrow keys. Turn on the Ctrl and Shift options for speeding up or slowing down the mouse, assuming you can press two keys simultaneously. This setting really speeds things up.

If you adjust the configuration on the Settings dialog box, you have to click OK and then click Apply before the changes register. Then you can go back and adjust as necessary.

Other Accessibility Settings (General Tab)

The final Accessibility tab is General, which is divided into four sections, each of which is described in Table 24.11.

Table 24.11. Other Accessibility Settings

Setting

Description

Automatic Reset

If multiple people are using the same computer, it's a good idea to have the Accessibility features time out if they're not used for a while. If you turn off this option, the settings stay in operation until you manually turn them off, even surviving reboots.

Notification

This setting determines how you're alerted to a feature being turned on or off. By default, a little dialog box appears, but you can change it to a sound.

Serial Key Devices

You can opt to use special input devices designed for the disabled.

Just connect such a device to a free serial port, and choose the port (COM1 through COM4) and baud rate.

Administrative Options

The first option applies your Accessibility settings (such as high contrast, and so on) to the logon desktop. The logon desktop is what you see when a user is logging on or when you press Ctrl+Alt+Del. It is a different desktop than the user desktop. If you choose this option, all users of the machine have the benefit (or annoyance) of seeing the settings when they are logging on.

The second option, when activated, copies the current Accessibility settings for each new user an administrator adds to the computer.




Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional (3rd Edition)
ISBN: 0789732807
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 450

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