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| 101 PC How Tos | |
| April 2000• Vol.6 Issue 4 | |
How To...Use Accessibility Options |
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[ACCESSIBILITY]
[OPTIONS]
[RICH]
[GRAY]
What You Need To Know Benefits Lets users with physical challenges work more effectively with their computers by manipulating sound, display, and keyboard and mouse settings Time 15 to 20 minutes to set up Skill Level Intermediate Microsoft has gone to great lengths with recent Windows’ releases to ensure that people with disabilities have the tools needed to use their computers. Known as Accessibility Options, these are solutions for people who have trouble using the keyboard or mouse, hearing sound, or seeing the monitor. Even users with no physical challenges will find the flexibility they have in changing some of these settings to be useful. Microsoft includes the Accessibility Wizard in Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98SE), which streamlines the process of setting up Accessibility Options. The Wizard is essentially an abbreviated way to change settings in the Accessibility Properties dialog box.  Accessibility
Properties. To open Accessibility Properties, click Start, select Settings, click Control Panel, and double-click Accessibility Options. If no icon is present, install the program from your Windows CD. (See “How To Add Missing Windows Components ” in this issue.) The dialog box has five tabs: Keyboard, Sound, Display (in WinNT 4.0, use the Display Properties dialog box in the Control Panel), Mouse, and General. Most have specific shortcuts to turn the options on and off, and you can add an icon to the System Tray, a simple way to monitor accessibility features. Keyboard. When you open Accessibility Properties, it defaults to Keyboard, where you get to select options in three areas. StickyKeys. If you have trouble pressing two or more keys simultaneously, this lets you press ALT, CTRL, or SHIFT and keeps it pressed until you’ve pressed a second key. Click the use StickyKeys box to engage and then the corresponding Settings button to select options. FilterKeys. FilterKeys was designed for users who have trouble pressing a key only once or who inadvertently hold the key down too long, causing repetition. After choosing this option, alter settings with the Settings button. ToggleKeys. With ToggleKeys, when you press a key that affects the whole keyboard (CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, SCROLL LOCK), a beep sounds. Click the box to activate this, then the Settings button to configure. At the bottom of the Keyboard tab is a box that you can check to see extra keyboard help. Sound. The Sound tab is broken into two areas: SoundSentry and ShowSounds. SoundSentry. Use this to have Windows give you a visual warning (flashing desktop, etc.) when the system makes a sound. ShowSounds. This option display captions for the speech and sounds they make. Display. Tab three gives you the option to view things in High Contrast, schemes that Windows can use to make everything easier to read (larger fonts, etc.). Use the Settings button to choose your favorite color scheme. Another display enhancer is the Microsoft Magnifier (Win98). Click Start, select Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, and Microsoft Magnifier. This pulls up both the Magnifier window and a dialog box to choose magnification level and other settings. The Magnifier window always appears on top, and you can drag it, resize it, and right-click it for more options. Mouse. The fourth tab offers Mouse-Keys, which let you use the numeric keypad on your keyboard as a mouse. In addition to the arrows (on 2, 4, 6, and 8), other keypad keys correspond to functions such as click (5) and drag (Insert). General. The last tab lets you set how the Accessibility Options work. With Automatic Reset, you can set Accessibility features to turn off after a specified period, perfect for a computer used by many people. Notification lets you know when options are on or off, and the SerialKey devices section lets you configure alternative input devices (other than keyboard or mouse); click on the Settings button to choose a serial port and baud rate for the device. Accessibility Wizard. The Accessibility Wizard gives you an easy way to change most of the settings listed in the Accessibility Properties dialog box. To open the Wizard, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Accessibility Wizard. The Wizard offers you a series of screens to click through, starting with various text/font options, before branching into separate sections dealing with sight, hearing, keyboard, and administrative sections. The final screen of the Wizard lists all the changes you made and points to the Microsoft Accessibility Website (http://www.microsoft.com/enable), a great site packed with articles, a free newsletter, and more.  by Rich Gray |
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