Chapter 16: Accessibility Options

Turning Accessibility Options Off and On

In general, you probably want to turn on whichever accessibility options you find useful, and leave them turned on but, if you share your computer, you may want the capability to turn them on and off easily.

Turning On and Off Magnifier, Narrator, and the On-Screen Keyboard by Using the Utility Manager

Windows XP has a new way to turn the Magnifier, Narrator, and On-Screen Keyboard on and off: the Utility Manager. Press WINDOWS-U to see it:

You can also start the program by choosing Start | All Programs | Accessories | Accessibility | Utility Manager. You can turn on your accessibility options by pressing WINDOWS-U when you see the Welcome To Windows logon screen, before you even log on.

The Utility Manager shows which of the three programs are running. You can stop or start a program by clicking it and clicking the Start or Stop button. You can also use check boxes in the Utility Manager window to start each of the three programs when you log in, when you lock the desktop (by pressing WINDOWS-L), or whenever you run the Utility Manager. Click a program, and then select the options for that program.

Narrator is usually configured to start automatically when you open the Utility Manager window, so don't be surprised when your computer starts reading the screen to you.

Turning On and Off Other Accessibility Features

The General tab of the Accessibility Options dialog box (shown in Figure 16-7) has some options for turning accessibility options off and on. Choose Start | Control Panel | Accessibility Options, run the Accessibility Options program, and click the General tab if it's not selected.

• Turn off after the computer is idle If more than one person uses the computer, you may want the accessibility options turned off when it has been idle for a certain interval. The Turn Off Accessibility Features After Idle For option on the General tab enables you to choose how long the computer must be idle before all accessibility options are turned off. If you always want accessibility options to remain on, make sure this option is not selected.
• Beep when settings change You may also want notification when accessibility options are turned on or off. The Notification options enable you to see a message when an accessibility feature is turned on and to hear a sound when an accessibility option is turned on or off.
• Turn on accessibility options for Welcome logon screen If you need accessibility options, you'd probably like them to be available during Windows logon (unless you don't use a logon screen--see Chapter 6 for logging into a multiuser computer, and Chapter 27 for logging into networks. You must be logged on with an administrative account to change this setting.
• Apply settings to new users If your computer is set up for multiple users, apply the same accessibility settings to any new accounts. You must be logged on with an administrative account to change this setting.

After you activate an accessibility option and enable its shortcut by using the Accessibility Options dialog box, you can turn the option on and off by using these keys:

Setting How to Toggle On and Off FilterKeys Hold down SHIFT for eight seconds High Contrast mode Press LEFT ALT-LEFT SHIFT-PRINT SCREEN MouseKeys Press LEFT ALT-LEFT SHIFT-NUM LOCK StickyKeys Press SHIFT five times ToggleKeys Hold down NUM LOCK for five seconds