Improving Access in Windows

The Control Panel
In the Control Panel various icons allow you to change the settings on your computer. Eg. There are icons for the date and time, the mouse, the computer display, printer settings and adding or removing programs. Of most interest for students with a vision impairment are the Accessibility Option Icon and the Display Icon as these icons allow you to customise the appearance of the screen.

The Accessibility Option gives a slight enlargement to everything on the screen eg. the icons, print and menu headings will all be enlarged if this option is chosen. The other way to change the appearance of the screen is to use the Display Icon in the Control Panel. This allows you to customise certain parts of the screen but not others.

The Display Icon includes options for:

  • Enlarging the print and the icons on the desktop
  • Changing the color of the desktop
  • Changing the size of the print on the menu bars.
  • Spreading the icons out horizontally or vertically so they do not overlap.
  • Enlarging the scroll bar down the side of your page.


    • Accessibility Options
    For instant overall enlargement of everthing on the screen- Try this:

  • Go to Start
  • Go up to Settings
  • Choose Control Panel
  • Select Accessibility Options
  • Go to Display and check (click in the box) High Contrast
  • Click on Apply

    • (If you want to remove accessibility options: go back into Accessibility Options and uncheck the high contrast option under display so the screen goes back to its original appearance. Don’t forget to click on apply, then click OK and shut the window.)

    Tips for students:

  • You can use hot keys to turn the accessibility option on and off.
  • Go into Accessibility Options; choose Display, Settings and then click in the box for Keyboard shortcut.
  • The Hot keys will then be: Left Alt + Left Shift +Print Screen to turn this option on and off.
  • Toggle these keys to turn this option on and off.


    • Using Display to Improve Screen Access

    To Change the Desktop Color

  • Try this:
  • Go to Start
  • Go up to Settings
  • Choose Control Panel
  • Select Display (a dialogue box appears with the words Display Properties on the Title Bar)
  • There are four tabs at the top, select the one that says “Appearance”
  • Go to the box with the word “Item” at the  top, click on the down arrow
  • Note all the different options, choose Desktop
  • To the right is a box with the word color, click on the down arrow
  • Choose a color, click apply then OK (this will give you a new background color)
  • You can also enlarge other features from the drop down menu such as the icons or scroll bar by selected a larger number
  • Click on Apply then OK


    • To Enlarge the Display Using Screen Resolution

  • Select Start
  • Settings
  • Control Panel
  • Select Display (a dialogue box appears with the words Display Properties on the Title Bar)
  • There are four tabs at the top, select the one that says “Settings”
  • Go to the slide control , the smaller the numbers the larger the display e.g. 640x480 or 800x600 will make all the icons etc. larger on the screen.


    • Other ways to help improve access:

  • maintain an uncluttered desktop – only have icons the student needs
  • keep icons in a consistent order
  • use shortcuts eg. last 15 documents can be found under Documents in start button menu
  • select a background color which the student prefers visually
  • minimise the wording under the icons – you don’t need the words “shortcut to” for example
  • increase the spacing between icons so that they do not overlap
  • increase the font size for the menu, title bars etc. this will also enlarge the three buttons on the top right of the screen
  • teach key commands where possible, it’s probably quicker anyway

    • Windows XP
    Windows XP has an accessibility wizard which takes you through various options for print size, size of icons, voice output and magnification. To get to it go to start, all programs, accessories, accessibility, accessibility wizard.
    Windows XP's speech facility.
    “Narrator is a text–to–speech utility for people who are blind or have low vision. Narrator reads what is displayed on the screen—the contents of the active window, menu options, or text that has been typed. Note  Narrator is designed to work with Notepad, WordPad, Control Panel programs, Internet Explorer, the Windows desktop, and some parts of Windows Setup.Narrator may not read words aloud correctly in other programs. Narrator has a number of options that allow you to customize the way screen elements are read.”

    Mouse actions  
    On the Start menu: ·  Point to All Programs. ·  Point to Accessories. ·  Point to Accessibility. ·  Select Narrator.
    Note: A message box with a link to more information about Narrator may appear. To close the box, select OK.
    To use Narrator but hide the Narrator dialog box, select the Minimize button.
    To turn off Narrator, in the Narrator dialog box, select the Exit button.    

    Keyboard actions
    Display the Start menu by pressing CTRL+ESC (or the Windows logo key  ). ·  Press R. ·  Type narrator. ·  Press ENTER.
    Note: A message box with a link to more information about Narrator may appear.
    To close the box, press ENTER.
    To use Narrator but hide the Narrator dialog box, select Minimize by pressing ALT+SPACEBAR, N.
    To turn off Narrator, in the Narrator dialog box, press ALT+X, Y."
    From Microsoft XP Web Page http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/accessibility/narratorturnon.asp


    Lyn Robinson
     

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    Web page editor Lyn Robinson. Last updated June 2005.
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