Hearing Text Read Aloud with Narrator

Making your computer easier to use

A guide on how to use the Ease of Access Centre

written using Windows 7

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service An Overview

The Ease of Access Centre is a central location where you can modify the accessibility settings and programs available in Windows.

You can adjust settings that make it easier to see your computer, use the mouse and keyboard, and use other input devices.

You can also answer a few questions about your daily computer use that will help Windows recommend accessibility settings and programs for you.

1 Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service Opening the Ease of Access Centre

Shortcut: to open the Ease of Access Centre press: Windows logo key + U

Step 1: click the Start button on the bottom left corner of the screen

Step 2: from the menu on the right select Control Panel

2 Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service Opening the Ease of Access Centre

Shortcut: to open the Ease of Access Centre press: Windows logo key + U

Step 3: click Ease of Access, located bottom right of the available options

Step 4: from the following screen select the Ease of Access Center. The main Ease of Access menu will now open

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Ease of Access Centre: Main Menu

Below shows the main Ease of Access menu screen. We shall cover each available option over the following pages

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 4 Ease of Access Centre: The Accessibility Options

Note: Windows can make recommendations to help you decide which accessibility options are best suited. Click the blue link to start the process

Using the Computer without a display

Windows has many features that enable you to use your computer without a display. For example, you can have screen text read aloud by using Narrator or you can have Windows describe screen activity to you. Narrator is basic, and is helpful for navigation around the Windows Operating System

Turn on Narrator This option sets Narrator to run when you log on to Windows. Narrator reads aloud on-screen text and describes some events (such as error messages appearing) that happen while you're using the computer. For more information about Narrator, see Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Turn on Audio Description This option sets Audio Description to run when you log on to Windows. Audio descriptions describe what's happening in videos.

Turn off all unnecessary animations This option turns off animation effects, such as fading effects, when windows and other elements are closed.

How long should Windows notification dialog boxes stay open? This option sets how long notifications are displayed on the screen before they are closed.

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Ease of Access Centre: The Accessibility Options

Make the Computer easier to see

If you occasionally have trouble seeing items on your screen, you can adjust the settings to make text and images on the screen appear larger, improve the contrast between items on the screen, and hear on-screen text read aloud.

Choose a High Contrast theme This option allows you to set a high-contrast colour scheme that heightens the colour contrast of some text and images on your computer screen, making those items more distinct and easier to identify

Turn on Narrator This option sets Narrator to run when you log on to your computer. Narrator reads aloud on-screen text and describes some events (such as error messages appearing) that happen while you're using the computer

Turn on Audio Description This option sets Audio Descriptions to run when you log on to your computer. Audio Descriptions describe what's happening in videos.

Change the size of text and icons This option allows you to make text and other items on your screen appear larger, so they're easier to see.

Turn on Magnifier This option sets Magnifier to run when you log on to your computer. Magnifier enlarges the part of the screen where the mouse is pointing and can be especially useful for viewing objects that are difficult to see

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 6 Ease of Access Centre: The Accessibility Options

Make the Computer easier to see

Adjust the colour and transparency of the window borders This option allows you to change the appearance of window borders to make them easier to see

Fine tune display effects This option allows you to customize how certain items appear on your desktop

Make the focus rectangle thicker This option makes the rectangle around the currently selected item in dialog boxes thicker, which makes it easier to see

Set the thickness of the blinking cursor This option allows you to make the blinking cursor in dialog boxes and programs thicker and easier to see

Turn off all unnecessary animations This option turns off animation effects, such as fading effects, when you close windows and other elements

Remove background images This option turns off all unimportant, overlapped content and background images to help make the screen easier to see

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Use the Computer without a Mouse or Keyboard

Windows has two features to help you use the computer without using a mouse or keyboard: Speech Recognition (you can use voice commands to work with Windows) and On-Screen Keyboard (you can enter text by selecting characters on the screen).

Use On-Screen Keyboard This option sets On-Screen Keyboard to run when you log on to Windows. On-Screen Keyboard displays a visual keyboard with all the standard keys. You can select keys using the mouse or another pointing device, or you can use keys on the standard keyboard

Use Speech Recognition Use this option to control the computer with your voice. With a microphone, you can speak commands that the computer will understand and respond to, as well as dictate text

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 8 Ease of Access Centre: The Accessibility Options

Make the mouse easier to use

You can change how the mouse pointer looks, and turn on other features that can help make it easier to use your mouse:

Change the colour and size of mouse pointers You can use these options to make the mouse pointer larger, or change the colour to make it easier to see

Turn on Mouse Keys You can use this option to control the movement of the mouse pointer by using the numeric keypad

Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse This option makes it easier to select and activate a window by pointing at it with the mouse rather than by clicking it

Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen This option prevents windows from automatically resizing and docking along the sides of your screen when you move them there

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Make the keyboard easier to use

You can use your keyboard to control the mouse and make it easier to type certain key combinations

Turn on Mouse Keys This option sets Mouse Keys to run when you log on to Windows. Instead of using the mouse, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard or the numeric keypad to move the pointer

Turn on Sticky Keys This option sets Sticky Keys to run when you log on to Windows. Instead of having to press three keys at once (such as when you must press the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys together to log on to Windows), you can use one key by turning on Sticky Keys and adjusting the settings. This way, you can press a modifier key and have it remain active until another key is pressed

Turn on Toggle Keys This option sets Toggle Keys to run when you log on to Windows. Toggle Keys can play an alert each time you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock, or Scroll Lock keys. These alerts can help prevent the frustration of inadvertently pressing a key and not realizing it

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Make the keyboard easier to use

You can use your keyboard to control the mouse and make it easier to type certain key combinations

Turn on Filter Keys This option sets Filter Keys to run when you log on to Windows. You can set Windows to ignore keystrokes that occur in rapid succession, or keystrokes that are held down for several seconds unintentionally.

Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys This option makes keyboard access in dialog boxes easier by highlighting access keys for the controls in them. For more information about keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard shortcuts

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Use text or visual alternatives for sound

Windows provides settings for using visual cues to replace sounds in many programs.

Turn on visual notifications for sounds This option sets sound notifications to run when you log on to Windows. Sound notifications replace system sounds with visual cues, such as a flash on the screen, so that system alerts are noticeable even when they're not heard. You can also choose how you want sound notifications to warn you

Turn on text captions for spoken dialog This option causes Windows to display text captions in place of sounds to indicate that activity is happening on your computer (for example, when a document starts or finishes printing)

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 12 Ease of Access Centre: The Accessibility Options

Make it easier to focus on tasks

Windows provides settings for using visual cues to replace sounds in many programs.

Remove background images This option turns off all unimportant, overlapped content and background images to help make the screen easier to see

Turn on Toggle Keys This option sets Toggle Keys to run when you log on to Windows. Toggle Keys can play an alert each time you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock, or Scroll Lock key.

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 13 Ease of Access Centre: The Accessibility Options

Make it easier to focus on tasks

Windows provides settings for using visual cues to replace sounds in many programs.

Turn off all unnecessary animations This option turns off animation effects, such as fading effects, when windows and other elements are closed

Choose how long Windows notification dialog boxes stay open With this option, you can choose how long notifications are displayed on the screen before they close

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 14 Narrator Overview

Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads text on the screen aloud (ie: menu items) and describes some events - such as an error message appearing - that happen while you're using the computer. This is part of the Ease of Access Centre.

However, Narrator is not as powerful as other more fully featured screen readers available, so should only be used as a ‘stop gap’ to aid navigation around the computer.

Dependent on the Windows operating system you are using, Narrator can be used to read text from the likes of Notepad and Wordpad, but will not read text from any of the programs in the Microsoft Office range (ie: Word), or website content.

As a program that is freely available within the Microsoft Operating System, Narrator can be very helpful; as long as you are aware of it’s limitations and use as a means of navigation only.

Note: to open the Ease of Access Centre press: Windows logo key + U

Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service 15 Magnifier Overview

Windows Magnifier is a screen magnification program that comes built into the Windows operating system. This is part of the Ease of Access Centre.

Note: to open the Ease of Access Centre press: Windows logo key + U

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Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to interact with your computer, saving you time and effort as you work with Windows and other programs.

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with the Ease of Access Centre

To achieve this: Do this:

Open the Ease of Access Centre Windows logo key + U

Turn Filter Keys on & off RIGHT SHIFT FOR 8 SECONDS LEFT ALT + LEFT SHIFT + PRINT Turn High Contrast on or off SCREEN LEFT ALT + LEFT SHIFT + NUMBER Turn Mouse Keys on or off LOCK Turn Stick Keys on or off SHIFT 5 TIMES

Turn Toggle Keys on or off NUMBER LOCK FOR 5 SECONDS

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Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Magnifier

To achieve this: Do this: Windows logo key + plus sign Zoom in or out or minus sign Preview the Desktop in full- CTRL + ALT + SPACEBAR screen mode Switch to Full-screen mode CTRL + ALT + F

Switch to Lens mode CTRL + ALT + L

Switch to Docked mode CTRL + ALT + D

Invert colours CTRL + ALT + I Pan in the direction of the arrow CTRL + ALT + ARROW KEYS keys Resize the lens CTRL + ALT + R

Exit Magnifier Windows logo key + ESC

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Narrator keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Narrator

To achieve this: Do this: Get information about the CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER current item Read the entire selected window CTRL + SHIFT + SPACEBAR Read the items that are selected CTRL + ALT + SPACEBAR in the current window Read a description of the items that appear next to the currently INSERT + CTRL + G selected element Stop Narrator for reading text CTRL Move the cursor backward to the beginning of any preceding text that has different formatting. For example, the cursor moves INSERT + Q from a bold word to the beginning of a non-bold word that precedes it Move the cursor to the beginning of any text that follows it that has different formatting. For example, the INSERT + W cursor moves from a bold word to the beginning of a non-bold word that follows it

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Narrator keyboard shortcuts cont’d

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Narrator

To achieve this: Do this: Move the cursor back to the beginning of any text that has the same formatting. For INSERT + E example, the cursor moves from the middle of a bold word to the beginning of that word Move the cursor to the end of any text that has the same formatting. For example, the INSERT + R cursor moves from the middle of a bold word to the end of that word Select all of the text that has the same formatting as the INSERT + F2 character at the cursor Read the current character INSERT + F3

Read the current word INSERT + F4

Read the current line INSERT + F5

Read the current paragraph INSERT + F6

Read the current page INSERT + F7

Read the current document INSERT + F8

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For further assistance please contact: [email protected]

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