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Customizing Microsoft Windows 95 for Individuals with Disabilities This document is (c) 1998 Microsoft. It has been converted to HTML for those users who do not have Microsoft Word 97. This Application Note provides information about the following products and services available for computer users with disabilities:
Microsoft Support Services for People Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Through a text telephone (TT/TDD) service, Microsoft provides people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing with complete access to Microsoft product and customer services. You can contact the Microsoft Sales Information Center on a text telephone by dialing (800) 892-5234 between 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Pacific time. For technical assistance in the United States, you can contact the Microsoft Support Network on a text telephone at (206) 635-4948 between 6:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. Pacific time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. In Canada, dial (905) 568-9641 between 8:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Microsoft support services are subject to Microsoft prices, terms, and conditions in place at the time the service is used.Microsoft Documentation in Alternative Formats People who have difficulty reading or handling printed documentation can obtain many Microsoft publications from Recording for the Blind, Inc. Recording for the Blind distributes these documents to registered, eligible members of their distribution service, either on audio cassettes or on floppy disks. The Recording for the Blind collection contains more than 80,000 titles, including Microsoft product documentation and books from Microsoft Press. You can contact Recording for the Blind at the following address or phone and fax numbers for information on eligibility and availability of Microsoft product documentation and books from Microsoft Press:
The Windows 95 product documentation is available from Recording for the Blind. Many of the Windows 95 documents are also available on a CD-ROM that comes with the package. Help for Installing Windows 95 People who use accessibility utilities to work with DOS or Windows can experience problems with Windows 95 Setup because their accessibility utilities are not available while Setup is running. You can solve this problem by creating a setup script that defines all the setup options so that Setup can run completely without requiring human interaction. If you have a system administrator, he or she can create a setup script for you. If you do not have a system administrator, you can create a setup script yourself using your current operating system and tools. There are two ways to create a setup script:
Whichever method you choose for creating the script, you can use it to control Windows 95 installation automatically, by using it with the setup command.
If Msbatch.inf exists in the Windows directory on the server containing the Windows 95 source files, Setup uses it by default. Otherwise, for example, to run Setup using a setup script named Myscript.inf on drive A, you would type setup a:\mybatch.inf. When you run Windows 95 Setup in this way, Setup takes all settings from the custom script. For information not defined in the setup script, Windows 95 Setup uses settings from an earlier version of Windows on the computer, uses built-in defaults, or prompts you to provide information. After copying files, Windows 95 Setup restarts the computer and begins the Run-Once setup operations (printer setup, program group conversions, and so on). When these operations are finished, Windows 95 is completely installed. The following shows the entries provided in the Automate.inf batch setup file. Any line that begins with a semicolon (;) indicates a comment. Windows 95 Setup ignores comments. Note: If you install Windows 95 over an earlier version of Windows, Setup will automatically convert your Program groups for use under Windows 95. Any accessibility utilities that were in your previous StartUp group will start automatically in Windows 95 after Setup is completed. This may be a problem if the accessibility utilities are not compatible with Windows 95. To avoid this problem, remove the accessibility utilities from the StartUp group before installing Windows 95. Accessibility Options in Windows 95 The Accessibility Options provided with Windows 95 make it easier to control the keyboard and mouse when using Windows 95. These features are designed primarily for individuals with motion-related disabilities who may have difficulty using the computer keyboard or mouse, and for individuals who prefer visual feedback in place of sounds. However, many of these features can be useful to everyone. The Windows 95 Accessibility Options provides the following features:
Choosing this icon displays the Accessibility Properties dialog box, which contains tabs for configuring settings for each type of accessibility feature. The following sections provide information on customizing settings and using keyboard and mouse input for using the Accessibility features. These features can be used separately or in combination. They are all designed so that an individual who requires a feature can turn it on without assistance. When all features are disabled, individuals who do not need them should not notice that the Accessibility features are installed, so the computer can be used both by people who require assistance and those who do not. The Accessibility Options are installed by default in Windows 95, and it is recommended that these features be installed on all computers that are shared, such as public or workgroup computers. Installing Accessibility Features The Accessibility features are installed by default in Windows 95. However, in some cases a computer might be set up without these components. If the Accessibility Options are not installed on your computer, you can install them using Control Panel.
Online Help on Accessibility The Accessibility section in the Windows 95 Help¾ which appears in both the Contents and the Index¾ provides a quick reference and pointer to topics that can help you adjust the system for people with disabilities.
Also, you can select the Contents tab to browse through Help topics that make learning and using Windows 95 easier. Some topics of particular interest under "How To" are:
Some topics of particular interest under "Tips and Tricks" are:
Customizing and Using Accessibility Features: The Accessibility Options icon in Control Panel provides properties that enable you to control most of the accessibility features in Windows 95. The properties you can set include turning the accessibility features on or off, in addition to customizing keyboard, sound, display, and mouse operation for your particular needs. All of the features described in the following sections work with both Windows-based and MS-DOS®-based programs running on Windows 95. The behavior and hot-key activation sequences are designed to be compatible with earlier versions of Windows and with other operating systems that support these same features. Activation of Hot Keys and Confirmation The emergency activation hot keys provide an alternate method of turning on accessibility features for people who could not use the computer without first having the accessibility features available. Also known as shortcut keys, these emergency hot keys enable you to temporarily turn on the specific feature required. Then, after a feature has been turned on, you can use the Accessibility Options or other items in Control Panel to adjust the feature you need to your own preferences, or to turn the feature on permanently. The same hot key temporarily turns off the feature if another person wants to use the computer without this feature. Hot keys are designed to be unique key combinations that should not conflict with keys used by programs. If such a conflict does arise, the hot keys can be disabled, and you can still use the feature as needed. As a precaution against accidental use, pressing an emergency hot key causes special tones to sound (a rising siren tone for on, and a falling siren tone for off), and causes a confirmation dialog box to appear, which briefly explains the feature and how it was activated. If you pressed the hot key unintentionally, you can cancel the feature’s activation at this time. The confirmation dialog box also provides a quick path to more detailed help and to Control Panel settings for the hot-key feature, in case you want to disable the hot key permanently. In a typical installation of Windows 95, the accessibility hotkeys are turned off to prevent them from conflicting with other programs. To turn on the hotkey for a feature, go to the appropriate tab in the Accessibility Options In Control Panel; then choose the Settings button for the feature, select the Use shortcut option, then choose OK twice to close the dialog boxes. The following table lists these hot keys.
Accessibility Status Indicator While an accessibility feature is in use, Windows 95 can display an optional visual indicator that shows which accessibility features are turned on. The indicator also provides feedback on the keys and mouse buttons currently being "held down" by the StickyKeys and MouseKeys features. The status indicator can appear on the taskbar or in a window. You can choose the window size. In the Accessibility status indicator, the three rectangles represent the left SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT keys when the StickyKeys feature is being used. As each modifier key is held down by the StickyKeys feature, the corresponding rectangle appears filled. For more information on the StickyKeys feature, see the section "StickyKeys for One-Finger or Mouthstick Typing" later in this document.The mouse icon in the Accessibility status indicator may show either the left or right button dimmed, depending on which is selected for use with the MouseKeys feature. Pressing 5, plus sign (+), or INS is equivalent to using that button. If you are working with both buttons (equivalent to using the middle button on a three-button mouse), both buttons are dimmed. If you lock down one or more mouse buttons by using the INS key, the status indicator shows those buttons as filled, rather than dimmed. (To release them, press DEL.) For more information on the MouseKeys feature, see the section "MouseKeys for Keyboard-Only Input" later in this document.The stop watch indicates that the keyboard response is being affected by SlowKeys, BounceKeys, or RepeatKeys features. For more information on the SlowKeys, BounceKeys, and RepeatKeys features, see the section "FilterKeys for Controlling Keyboard Input" later in this document. Accessibility Timeout (Reset) In the Accessibility Options properties, the Automatic Reset option turns off accessibility functionality after the computer has been idle for a certain period of time. It returns the operating system to its default configuration. This feature is useful on shared computers.
Show Extra Keyboard Help for Keyboard Preference Windows 95 enables you to specify a keyboard preference option that informs programs that you prefer to use the keyboard rather than the mouse. You can turn on this option to have programs that support this feature display any keyboard-related elements or instructions that might otherwise be hidden.
Keyboard layout differences On U.S. keyboards or when using "United States" as the country and keyboard layout settings, StickyKeys treats the modifier keys as identical pairs to allow greater flexibility. That is, StickyKeys treats the left and right SHIFT keys, the left and right control (CTRL), and the left and right alternate (ALT) keys the same. For example, if you enter LOCKED mode by tapping the left SHIFT key twice, you could perform the intended function and exit LOCKED mode by tapping the right SHIFT key once, because the two modifier keys are treated the same. On non-U.S. keyboards or when not using "United States" as the country or keyboard layout settings, you might find that your particular international keyboard layout attempts to distinguish between the left and right modifier keys. In particular, the keyboard layout might need to distinguish between the left and right ALT keys. This is typically done by giving the right ALT key a new name. Instead of just "ALT", it is now called the "AltGr" key, which is an abbreviation for "alt-graphics". For international keyboard layouts, StickyKeys still allows you to move freely between the left and right SHIFT or CTRL keys, but the left alternate key act as the standard "ALT" key (typically used to access a menu item), while the right alternate key acts as the "AltGr" key (usually to access special characters in that particular language). Both the "ALT" and the "AltGr" keys can still be used in either LATCHED or LOCKED mode. StickyKeys for One-Finger or Mouthstick Typing Many software programs require you to press two or three keys at a time. For people who type using a single finger or a mouthstick, that isn’t possible. StickyKeys allows you to press one key at a time and instructs Windows to respond as if the keys had been pressed simultaneously. When StickyKeys is on, pressing any modifier key ( CTRL, ALT, or SHIFT) "latches" that key down until you release the mouse button or press a key that is not a modifier key. Pressing a modifier key twice in a row locks the key down until it is tapped a third time.
If you have the sound features of StickyKeys enabled, you will hear a rising siren tone when StickyKeys is turned on or off using the hot key. StickyKeys operates in two modes: Latched mode and Locked mode:
Any and all of the modifier keys (shift, ctrl, and alt) can be latched or locked in combination. For shared computers, there is an optional feature to keep non-disabled people from being confused when StickyKeys is left on. Whenever other people use the keyboard, they will hold the modifier key down and strike another key simultaneously. If the option named Turn StickyKeys Off When Pressing Two Keys At Once is enabled, StickyKeys detects that two keys are held down simultaneously and automatically turns the StickyKeys feature off. Some people do not like to have keyboard sounds, while others find them useful. You can turn feedback sounds on or off in the StickyKeys properties by using the option Make Sounds When Modifier Key Is Pressed. Also, it is possible to disable the Locked mode of StickyKeys by making sure the Press Modifier Key Twice To Lock check box is not selected. FilterKeys for Controlling Keyboard Input Windows 95 includes features designed to work either separately or in combination to address problems related to keyboard sensitivity. These features are grouped as FilterKeys and are known separately as SlowKeys, BounceKeys, and RepeatKeys. These options include the following:
You can adjust FilterKeys settings by using the Accessibility Options icon in Control Panel, or turn on or off a specific FilterKeys feature by using an emergency hot key.
The following sequence of events happens:
When you disable FilterKeys (using the same keyboard action), you will hear a falling siren. You can adjust the FilterKeys settings so that unwanted functions have no effect.
The Filter options are mutually exclusive (select one or the other):
For RepeatKeys, which overrides the settings made using the Keyboard properties in Control Panel:
For SlowKeys, you must define the acceptance delay, which enables you to adjust the amount of time that you must hold a key down before it is accepted by the computer. Another very useful FilterKeys feature is the option Beep When A Key Is Pressed. If this option is on and any FilterKeys functions are active, you hear a beep when you press the key or when the key repeats. For example, if SlowKeys is active, you would hear a sound when the key is pressed and also when the computer accepts the key. This can be useful when the keyboard is set to respond differently than usual. ToggleKeys for Audio Cues on the Key’s State People with visual impairments may not be able to see the lights on the keyboard that indicate caps lock, num lock and scroll lock status. ToggleKeys provides audio cues — high and low beeps — to tell you whether these keys are active or inactive. If ToggleKeys is enabled, when you press one of these keys and it turns on, you will hear a high beep. When you press one of these keys and it turns off, you will hear a low beep.
When ToggleKeys turns on, you will hear a rising siren if sound is turned on. ToggleKeys is especially useful for people who accidentally press the caps lock key instead of the tab key, because it provides immediate feedback when they make such a mistake. ToggleKeys also functions with keyboards that do not have the status indicator lights for the caps lock, num lock, and scroll lock keys. The audible low and high beeps can be very useful for all users with this style of keyboard. MouseKeys for Keyboard-Only Input This feature lets you control the mouse pointer by using the keyboard. Although Windows 95 is designed to allow you to perform all actions without a mouse, some programs might still require one, and a mouse might be more convenient for some tasks. MouseKeys is also useful for graphic artists and others who need to position the pointer with great accuracy. You do not need to have a mouse to use this feature.
When MouseKeys turns on, you will hear a rising siren if sounds are turned on. If you are using only one finger, a mouthstick, or a headpointer to operate the computer, the easiest way to activate MouseKeys is to first activate StickyKeys by tapping either shift key five times. You can then press the three keys in sequence rather than simultaneously. When MouseKeys is on, use the following keys to move the pointer on the screen:
You can use the num lock key to toggle the MouseKeys control pad back to the numeric keypad and vice versa. This is especially useful with a laptop or notebook computer that doesn't have a separate numeric keypad. On these computer keyboards, the numeric keypad is usually overlaid on top of the standard QWERTY keyboard. For example, if you were using the numeric keypad for number entry before starting MouseKeys, when you toggle out of MouseKeys by using the num lock key, you can enter numbers with the numeric keypad. If you were using the numeric keypad as a cursor keypad before starting MouseKeys, when you toggle out of MouseKeys by using the num lock key, you will have a cursor keypad. It can be useful to combine use of MouseKeys and a physical mouse. For example, you can use the standard mouse to move quickly around the screen, and then use MouseKeys to move more precisely (unit by unit) to your final destination. Some people cannot use the standard mouse while simultaneously holding down the mouse button, so you can use MouseKeys to lock down the currently active mouse button, then move the mouse cursor by using MouseKeys or the real mouse, and then release the mouse button by using MouseKeys. SoundSentry and ShowSounds for Visual Feedback SoundSentry and ShowSounds can only be enabled from the ShowSounds tab within the Accessibility Options in Control Panel. ShowSounds is a global flag that instructs programs to provide visible feedback—in effect, asking the programs to be "closed-captioned." SoundSentry tells Windows to send a visual cue, such as a blinking title bar or a screen flash, whenever the computer generates a sound. This enables you to see when the computer is generating sounds, although it cannot enable you to distinguish between different sounds. You can choose separate display options for two situations:
In Windows 95, the SoundSentry feature only supports sounds generated through the computer's internal speaker. It cannot detect sounds made using multimedia sound cards or MIDI systems. If your computer has a multimedia sound card, you may need to disable this hardware to force sounds to be played through the computer's built-in speaker. This allows SoundSentry to detect these sound events. You can disable your multimedia sound card by using the Multimedia icon in Control Panel.
You need to restart Windows for this change to take effect. To re-enable your multimedia sound card, repeat the same procedure but select the option Use Audio Features Of This Device in the Properties dialog box. High-Contrast Mode for People with Low Vision Many people with low vision require a high degree of contrast between foreground and background objects, in order to distinguish the objects. For example, some people may not be able to easily read black text on a gray background, or text drawn over a picture. By setting a global flag, you can now instruct Windows 95 and programs to display information with a high degree of contrast. Activating high-contrast mode automatically selects your preferred color scheme.
Windows 95 color schemes enable you to choose from several well-designed sets of screen-color options, designed both to match users’ individual tastes and to meet their visual needs. The new color schemes in Windows 95 include high-contrast colors, such as white text on a black background, or black text on a white background. These high-contrast color schemes optimize the visibility of screen objects for people with visual impairments. SerialKeys for Alternative Input Devices This feature, in conjunction with a communications aid interface device, enables you to control the computer by using an alternative input device. Such a device needs only to send coded command strings through the computer’s serial port to specify keystrokes and mouse events, which are then treated as typical keyboard or mouse input. This feature is designed for people who are unable to use the computer's standard keyboard and mouse. In some cases, these special input devices can be connected to a computer's serial port (the connector commonly used for attaching a modem or printer). However, this is in itself not enough to enable you to emulate or control keyboard and mouse functions, because the computer is designed to receive keyboard and mouse signals through its keyboard and mouse ports. Using SerialKeys enables you to control keyboard and mouse functions through the serial port. This is done by sending the right series of letters and commands from the special input device to the computer's serial port. The regular keyboard and mouse can still be used while SerialKeys is being used. The most commonly used special input device for SerialKeys is a communication aid: an electronic device often used by people who can't communicate by speech alone because of a physical disability. Using SerialKeys requires you to program specific key definitions into the special input device. You will need the documentation for the device to carry out this programming. This section describes how to set up SerialKeys with a device such as a communication aid (referred to as "the aid" in these instructions), including how to hook up the aid to the computer, how to set up SerialKeys on the computer, and what letters or commands to send so you can type any key on the keyboard and make any mouse movement you want from the aid. Follow these instructions step-by-step. If you are the user of the aid, someone may need to assist you the first time you set up SerialKeys. Task 1: Determine whether the communication aid works with SerialKeys. First, make sure the aid works with SerialKeys. You should be able to answer yes to all of the following questions:
Task 2: Connect the aid to the computer. Plug one end of the serial cable into the serial port on the aid and the other end into the serial port on the computer. If you don't already have a serial cable, obtain one from the manufacturer of the aid. Task 3: Configure the aid for serial transmission. To communicate, the aid and SerialKeys must be transmitting to each other at the same speed (baud rate). The recommended speed is 300 baud. You must also make sure the aid is configured with the following settings:
You don't have to know what this means; you just have to make sure the aid is configured that way. In addition, most aids have a special selection or a switch for sending the characters stored in the aid out the serial port. Make sure you turn on this function. Other aids may require that you program special codes to set up the serial port. In all cases, check the documentation for the aid to determine how to configure it. Task 4: Activate SerialKeys. Make sure SerialKeys is active in Windows 95.
The following topics tell you how to program each different type of key or mouse movement. The examples are provided to help you set up the aid and computer properly, and to help you understand how to program the aid, before you program the complete set of keys and mouse movements. There are four types of SerialKeys actions you can program into any selection (position) on the aid:
Typing Basic Keys by Using SerialKeys Each key on your computer keyboard has a keyname, and it is this keyname that you must program into the aid to be able to type that key. Many of the keynames consist of a single character, which are referred to here as the "basic keys": `1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - q w e r t y u i o p [ ] a s d f g h j k l ; ' z x c v b n m , . / \ To type one of these keys, you just send that single character out the serial port of the aid. For example, to type the word "hello," you simply select the "h" keyname, the "e" keyname, the "l" keyname, another "l" keyname, and finally an "o" keyname. Most aids have all of these single-character keynames programmed into them, so there is no additional programming to do for these keys. Typing Special Keys by Using SerialKeys Many keys do not have single-character keynames. For example, the num lock and caps lock keys each have more than a single-character name. These are called special keys because you have to do something different to type them using the aid. To type special keys, you must program a sequence of characters into a single selection on the aid. The sequence for special keys is different for each key, but always follows two rules:
The Escape character usually can be generated on the aid by selecting the Control function along with the left bracket ( [ ). On some aids, this appears as ^[. Check the documentation for the aid if you're not sure how to make the Escape character on it. We will refer to the Escape character by putting "esc" between two angle brackets, like this: <esc>.
These should all be programmed as one word or selection on the aid. When you need the special keys, the entire string is sent out to the serial port of the computer by making only one selection on the aid. For example, to type the enter key, the character sequence would be: SerialKeys has official names for each of the special keys on your keyboard. Because the sequences for special keys are somewhat long, you will want to program an entire sequence for a special key into a single selection on the aid. Then you can label this selection (such as Enter) and have it ready for when you need to type the key. In fact, you will probably want to program the sequences for all the special keys on the computer keyboard into selections on the aid. The time spent doing this will be made up many times once you begin using the aid to access the computer. See "Programming the Aid for Keyboard and Mouse Functions" later in this section to learn how to set up the complete keyboard and for a table of all the keynames. Typing Modifier Keys (shift, ctrl, alt) by Using SerialKeys There are three special keys that must be typed differently from the other special keys: shift, Control (ctrl), and Alternate (alt). These three keys are called the modifier keys, since they don't do anything themselves but modify the action of another key. shift, for instance, makes a small "a" into a capital "A." On an ordinary keyboard, you hold down the modifier key while pressing the other key. SerialKeys imitates this action by using a command called "hold." Following is the sequence you have to type on the aid to type a modifier key:
The following command string would be used to send a capital A on your computer by using SerialKeys. Remember, <esc> means the Escape character on the aid. And don't forget the commas and the period. If you've typed the sequence successfully, a capital "A" should appear on your computer, just as if you had held down the shift key on the regular keyboard and then pressed the "a" key. Most keyboards have two shift keys, a right shift key and a left shift key. You can use different keynames (lshift and rshift) for the two keys to distinguish between them if you like. Some keyboards also have right and left Control keys and right and left Alternate keys. SerialKeys also distinguishes between these. See "Programming the Aid for Keyboard and Mouse Functions" to learn how to set up the complete keyboard, and for a table of all the keynames. Using SerialKeys to Move and Click the Mouse If your computer is equipped to use a mouse, you can operate all the mouse functions from the aid as well, using SerialKeys. If you're not interested in performing mouse functions, skip to "Programming the Aid for Keyboard and Mouse Functions" later in this section. Before you perform any mouse functions by using SerialKeys, you should send the moureset (mouse reset) command. This should be done whenever you start up a program (such as a word processing program) that uses the mouse. Just send this command from the aid: The mouse pointer should move to the upper-left corner of the screen. To Move the Mouse: You can do the equivalent of moving the mouse by sending a move command from the aid to the computer. Here are the parts of a move command, in the proper order:
The move command takes two numbers after it: first the motion in the horizontal direction and then the motion in the vertical direction. There must be either a plus (+) or a minus (-) sign before each number, unless the number is a zero. Positive numbers move the mouse pointer to the right or down. Negative numbers move the mouse pointer to the left or up. Examples: To Click the Mouse: To click the button on a mouse, you use the click command. The commands should be typed as shown below. Remember, <esc> means a single "Escape" character. Examples: To Double-click the Mouse: You can double-click the mouse by using the same commands as shown above, but with the command dblclick in place of the command click. Example: To Click and Drag with the Mouse: SerialKeys lets you do the equivalent of holding the mouse button down while moving the mouse ("dragging") by using the moulock (mouse lock) and mourel (mouse release) commands, together with the move command. If, for example, you want to select text in a word-processing program that uses the mouse, you would:
Programming the Aid for Keyboard and Mouse Functions Before you program all of the keys and mouse actions into the aid, you probably want to decide how to lay out the selections on the aid. Look at the number of different keys you might want to have (see the following table). You will probably want mouse movements also. If the aid stores vocabulary in levels, decide whether you want keyboard and mouse actions on separate levels in the aid. If the aid uses combinations of symbols to store vocabulary, decide which combinations you want to use for keyboard and mouse functions. The following table lists character sequences you send from the aid to simulate the individual keyboard keys. In some cases, there are several character sequences that all simulate the same key. In this table, the term p/r indicates a key being pressed and immediately released. Toggled indicates that a key such as caps lock will be turned on if currently off, or turned off if currently on. Pressed down indicates that the key will be pressed and remain held down during the next key simulated.
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