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Section 2.7: Configuring Accessibility Options

In Windows XP Professional you can use the ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS program in CONTROL PANEL to configure accessibility options. You can configure Keyboard, Sound, Display, Mouse, and General Accessibility options.

  • On the KEYBOARD tab you can configure:
    • FilterKeys causes the keyboard to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes. This option also allows you to configure the keyboard repeat rate, which is the rate at which a key continuously held down repeats the keystroke. This is a check box selection, so it is either on or off. You can configure FilterKeys by clicking Settings to activate the Settings For FilterKeys dialog box
    • StickyKeys Turning on StickyKeys allows you to press a multiple key combination, like Ctrl+Alt+Delete, one key at a time. This is useful for people who have difficulty pushing more than one key at a time. This is a check box selection, so it is either on or off. You can configure StickyKeys by clicking Settings to activate the Settings For StickyKeys dialog box
    • ToggleKeys You can also configure ToggleKeys in the Keyboard tab. Turning on ToggleKeys causes the computer to make a high-pitched sound each time the Caps Lock, Num Lock, or Scroll Lock keys are switched on. Turning on ToggleKeys also causes the computer to make a low-pitched sound each time these three keys are turned off.
  • On the SOUND tab you can configure:
    • Sound Sentry allows you to configure Windows XP Professional to generate visual warnings when your computer makes a sound.
    • ShowSounds allows you to configure Windows XP Professional programs to display captions for the speech and sounds they make.
  • On the DISPLAY tab you can configure:
    • High Contrast allows you to configure Windows XP Professional to use color and fonts designed for easy reading.
    • Cursor Options allow you to set the blink rate and the width of the cursor.
  • On the MOUSE tab you can configure:
    • MouseKeys allows you to configure Windows XP Professional to control the mouse pointer with the numeric keypad on your keyboard this enables the keyboard to perform mouse functions. You can also configure the pointer speed and acceleration speed.
  • On the GENERAL tab you can configure:
    • SerialKeys allows you to configure Windows XP Professional to support an alternative input device (also called an augmentative communication device) to your computer's serial port.

Unlike Windows 2000 in which accessibilty options were not made permanent, but reverted back to to the standard settings automatically after a specified period of inactivity, Windows XP Professional requires you to set this option on the GENERAL tab.