Using the Control Panel (Accessibility Options)

The second installment in our Basic Computer Training Online course deals with accessibility options which is the first icon in the control panel. Accessibility options allow one to customize the computer making it more user friendly for everyone not only people with some sort of handicap which effects how they interact with the computer.

How to access accessibility options

The easiest way to access accessibility options is to click the start button and then find and double left click control panel.

It will pull up the control panel. Double left click on the accessibility options icon (which is the first icon) and it pulls up the following box.

The first box the sticky keys allow you to use a key at a time instead of having to hold two keys down at once. For instance with sticky keys you can hit ctrl alt del and it would pull up the windows security box the same as when you hit ctrl alt del together. If you click settings you get this box:

Everything in here is pretty self explanatory really.

The next box is for filter keys. These allow you to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes or to slow the repeat rate. What this does is allow a delay between each keystroke for people who hold down keys too long and also to force people to hold down keys for a while in order for them to function. I will explain each one below.

If you click settings you get the following box.

If you put the radio button in ignore repeated keystrokes and click settings you get this box.

What this means is that if you hit the t key it will ignore that key again if it hit it faster than .5 seconds. If you wait and hit it at anything above .5 it will give you another t. You can use the test area to determine the speed that is best for you.

If you put the radio button in ignore quick keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate and click settings you get the following box.

The no keyboard repeat button means that if you hold down the key it will not repeat unless you release it and then hold it down again. Slow down the repeat rate allows the letter to repeat but at a slow rate which you can set however you like. The keys must be held down drop down box tells you how long you must hold down the key prior to them appear on the screen.Once again the test area allows you to experiment with the settings and see which one you like best.

Now if yu put a check in toggle keys like below it makes a noise whenever you hit any of the locks (caps lock, num lock or scroll lock). This warns you whenever you inadvertently hit one of the keys.

Click the sound tab and you get a menu as below.

These are fairly self-explanatory but what they do is generate visual warning (sound sentry) or display captions for speech and sound that is created (show sounds). These are great for those who have any trouble hearing.

The display icon reveals the following options.

If you put a check next to the use high contrast it allows for easier reading by changing the amount of contrast. You can fiddle with it to which one suits you best but for me it is extremely annoying. It is almost like viewing the negative of a picture. Here is an example of what high contrast looks like with the default setting.

The cursor blink rate is how fast the cursor blinks and the width of the cursor. If you have a problem seeing the cursor you can make it very wide and/or make it blink very slowly. Here is an example of a wide cursor with a slow blink rate.

Click on the tab mouse to control options with the mouse. These options allow you to use the keys on the keyboard to control the pointer instead of the mouse.

If you click the settings you get the options below.

The pointer is controlled by the left alt, the left shift and the num lock keys. The pointer speed controls the top speed and acceleration of the pointer (the little arrow on your screen by default). You can also place a check mark to allow you to speed up or slow down by using the ctrl key. Also you can allow the num lock key to control the mouse keys and show the mouse keys status on the screen as well.

If you click the general tab you get the following.

The general tab allows you to control the behavior of the accessibility options. You can turn them off after they have been idle for a bit by putting a check in the box and selecting the time as below.

You can also give a warning message when turning the features on or make a sound (this is the default). I have accidentally turned the features on and it can be sort of annoying to say the least. I am glad windows warns me. Anyways the boxes below control notifications.

Serial keys allows alternative access through a different port. You will usually not be using this unless there is some special circumstance. The serial port for example is one of the options when you click the settings. The serial port uses a DB9 connector anyways there is usually no need to use this unless there is some special accessibility device you have setup. But here is what appears when you click the settings tab.

The final administrative options control how the settings are applied. You can apply them to only the person logged on (the first check box) or apply to all users (the bottom or second check box).

From Accessibility Options to Free Computer Help

From Accessibility Option to Free Computer Help Blog