Setting Options for People with Impaired Hearing

[Previous] [Next]

The following options are designed for users who are hearing-impaired:

• SoundSentry causes Windows to display a visual cue whenever your computer beeps. Separate options let you customize the visual cues for windowed and full-screen programs.
• ShowSounds is the Windows equivalent of closed-captioned television. In programs that use digitized speech or other audible cues, ShowSounds instructs the program to provide visible feedback, such as text captions. Not all programs have this capability.

NOTE

---

The SoundSentry actions take place only when your system plays a sound through its internal speaker. (Most programs that beep through the internal speaker are MS-DOS-based programs.) Sounds played through external speakers via a sound card don't invoke SoundSentry.

TIP

---

The accessibility features designed for users who are hearing-impaired can also be used effectively in situations in which the computer's speakers must be turned off, or in extremely noisy workplaces.

To turn on either SoundSentry or ShowSounds via the Accessibility Wizard, on the Set Wizard Options page shown in Figure 7-2, select I Am Deaf Or Have Difficulty Hearing Sounds From The Computer. Then proceed through the wizard to the SoundSentry and ShowSounds pages. Select Yes on the appropriate pages and then exit the wizard.

To turn on these features via Accessibility Options in Control Panel, click the Sound tab. You'll see the dialog box shown in Figure 7-7. Select the check box for either or both features, and then click Settings to specify what kind of visual cues you want.

Figure 7-7. SoundSentry and ShowSounds cause Windows to augment some of its normal sounds with visual cues.