Ease of Access

Windows offers several programs and settings that can make the computer easier and more comfortable to use. This section tells you how to find and set up accessibility options whether you use a mouse and keyboard, or a touch-enabled computer.

Make your pc easier to use

There’s no single best way to set up your pc. Everyone works differently so Windows 8 provides a variety of ways to change your settings so you can use your pc the way you want.

Customizing the Ease of Access page

You can find a few more settings on the Ease of Access page—a convenient summary page where you can change common settings.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter Ease of Access in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click Ease of Access in the results.

Here are the settings you'll find on the Ease of Access page:

1. 1. High contrast. If it’s hard to read text on your screen, you can change the theme of your pc to a color combination that’s easier to read.
2. 2. Make everything on your screen bigger. If things on your screen are too small to read, you can use this setting to magnify everything on the screen.
3. 3. Pressing Windows+Volume Up. This works on newer laptops and tablets. First, choose a setting (Narrator, Magnifier, or On-Screen Keyboard), and then turn it on with a quick press of the Windows logo button and Volume Up button together.
4. 4. Show notifications for. If you find that notifications appear and disappear too quickly, you can change how long they’re visible—so you have time to read and react to them.
5. 5. Cursor thickness. If the cursor is too small for you and hard to spot on the screen, use this setting to change its thickness.

Choosing more tools and settings in the Ease of Access Center

The Ease of Access Center in Windows 8 Professional gives you the most control for customizing your accessibility settings.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search. Or, from the Start screen, press the Windows logo key + C.)
2. 2. Enter current accessibility settings in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click View current accessibility settings.

The first section in the Ease of Access Center includes quick access to four common tools:

• • Magnifier. This enlarges part—or all—of the screen, so it’s easier to read. For more info, see Use Magnifier to see items on screen.
• • Narrator. This is a screen reader that reads the text on your screen aloud. For more info, see Hear text read aloud with Narrator.
• • On-Screen Keyboard. This lets you use your mouse or other pointing device to interact with a keyboard on the screen.
• • High Contrast. This heightens the color contrast of some text and images on your screen, which helps make those items easier to identify.

The second section of the Ease of Access Center lists all of the other settings you can use.

• • Use the computer without a display. Here, you can turn on Narrator, turn on audio descriptions for videos, set up Text to Speech, and change how long dialog boxes stay open.
• • Make the computer easier to see. If you occasionally have trouble-seeing items on your screen, adjust these settings to make the screen easier to see. You can change to a high contrast theme, turn on Magnifier, adjust colors, and remove unnecessary animations and background images.
• • Use the computer without a mouse or keyboard. Windows includes an on-screen keyboard that lets you enter text by selecting characters on the screen. You can also use Speech Recognition to control your pc with voice commands, and dictate text into programs. For more info, see Using Speech Recognition.
• • Make the mouse easier to use. This setting lets you change the size and color of the mouse pointer, and use the numeric keypad to control the mouse.
• • Make the keyboard easier to use. You can adjust the way Windows responds to mouse or keyboard input so that key combinations are easier to press, typing is easier, and accidental keystrokes are ignored.
• • Use text or visual alternatives for sounds. Windows can replace system sounds with visual cues and display text captions for spoken dialog in multimedia programs.
• • Make it easier to focus on tasks. These settings include a number of ways to help you focus on reading and typing. Use them to turn on Narrator, adjust how the keyboard responds to certain keystrokes, and change the way certain visual elements are displayed.
• • Make touch and tablets easier to use. When you choose this option, Narrator starts automatically when you press the Windows logo button and Volume Up button together. You can change this so Magnifier or On-Screen Keyboard starts instead.

Get recommendations for Ease of Access settings

If you're not sure which settings to use, fill out the Ease of Access questionnaire to get recommendations.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter current accessibility settings in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click View current accessibility settings.
3. 3. Tap or click Get recommendations to make your computer easier to use.

Make the text on your screen larger or smaller

You can make the text (and other things like icons) larger without changing the screen resolution of your monitor or laptop screen. That way, you can make text easier to see and still keep your monitor or laptop set to the best possible resolution.

1. 1. Open Screen Resolution by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Display in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Display.
2. 2. Choose one of the following:
   • − Smaller - 100% (default). This keeps text and other items at normal size.
   • − Medium - 125%. This sets text and other items to 125% of normal size.
   • − Larger - 150%. This sets text and other items to 150% of normal size. This option appears only if your monitor supports a resolution of at least 1200 x 900 pixels.
3. 3. Tap or click Apply.

To see the new text size, close all of your apps, and then sign out of Windows. The change will take effect the next time you sign in.

Also, you can change the text size for specific items in Windows, like window title bars or tooltips, without changing the size of anything else on the screen.

• • Open Screen Resolution by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Display in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Display.
• • Under Change only the text size, choose the item you'd like to change and pick a text size. If you want the text to be bold, select the Bold check box.
• • Tap or click Apply.

You'll see the change the next time you sign in to Windows.

You can also make text appear larger or smaller by changing your screen resolution, but if you're using an LCD monitor or laptop, it's a good idea to set your screen to its native resolution to avoid blurry text. This is the resolution that a monitor or laptop screen was designed to display based on its size. For more info, see Get the best display on your monitor.

Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Narrator is a screen reader that reads text on the screen aloud and describes events like error messages so you can use your computer without a display.

Starting Narrator

There are different ways to start Narrator. These are the three shortcuts many people prefer:

• • On a keyboard, press the Windows logo key +Enter.
• • On a tablet, press the Windows logo button and Volume Up button together.
• • On the sign-in screen, press the Windows logo key +U or click the Ease of access button in the lower-left corner and choose Narrator.

Another way to get to Narrator is to use search:

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter Narrator in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Narrator.

New touch gestures

Windows 8 and Windows RT have new actions and new locations for common commands. Here are a few important gestures to get you started.

New keyboard shortcuts

Windows 8 and Windows RT have new keyboard shortcuts too. Here are a few helpful ones. To find the rest, go to Keyboard shortcuts.

Narrator settings

Here are some of the main settings you might want to use:

General

• • Lock the Narrator key so you don’t have to press it for each command (Caps Lock). When you choose this option, you won’t have to use the Caps Lock key with the Narrator keys. For example, instead of pressing Caps Lock key+F1, you can simply press F1.

• Note: On a 106 keyboard, Ctrl+Alt+Z won't lock the Narrator key.

• • Start Narrator minimized. This option keeps the Narrator window out of your way.
• • Echo keyboard keystrokes while typing. You can choose whether or not Narrator reads each key you type.
• • Read out voiced Narrator errors. Choose this option if you want Narrator to read the actual error in addition to playing an error tone.
• • Enable visual highlighting of Narrator cursor. This option lets you show or hide the box that highlights where Narrator is on your screen.
• • Play audio cues. This option lets you turn on or off the extra sounds that Narrator plays when you do
  certain actions.
• • Read hints for common items. This option controls whether Narrator will read hints about how to interact with common items such as buttons, links, list items, and sliders.
• • Lower the volume of other apps when Narrator is running. This option makes other apps quieter so it's easier to hear Narrator.
• • Retain notifications to be read for. This drop-down menu lets you control how long notifications will be retained for being read by Narrator.
• • Control whether Narrator starts automatically. This link takes you to the Ease of Access Center where you can choose to have Narrator on automatically.

Navigation

• • Read and interact with the screen using the mouse. This option controls whether Narrator mouse mode is on. When mouse mode is on, Narrator will read what’s currently under your mouse cursor.
• • Activate keys on the touch keyboard when you lift your finger. If touch mode is on, you can turn on this setting so you can type faster using the touch keyboard. With this setting, you can drag to find the item you're looking for and lift your finger to press the key.
• • Enable the Narrator cursor to follow the keyboard focus. This adds a blue box to your screen that moves with the keyboard focus, so that if you tab through items the Narrator cursor will follow.

Voice

• • Select the speed, volume, or pitch of the voice. You can customize the voice with these three sliders.
• • Select a different voice for Narrator. With this drop-down menu you can select different types of voices in Narrator, if they are available in your language.

Commands

• • Click this option to see a list of existing shortcut keys for Narrator. You can always change these shortcuts if you like. The most important keyboard shortcut to know is Caps Lock+F1. Pressing this keyboard combination will show all Narrator commands. For reference, the following table lists the commands too.

If you have a new pc that supports four or more contact points, you can use touch commands to control your pc.

Using Speech Recognition

Windows Speech Recognition makes using a keyboard and mouse optional. You can control your pc with your voice and dictate text instead.

Set up Speech Recognition

There are a few steps you need to take before you can start using Speech Recognition. First, you’ll need to set up a microphone. Next, it’s a good idea to take the tutorial to learn how to use Speech Recognition effectively. Finally, you can train your pc to recognize your voice.

To set up a microphone

Before you set up Speech Recognition, make sure you've plugged the microphone into your pc so the following steps work.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter set up a microphone in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click Set up a microphone.
3. 3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

To take the tutorial

The tutorial that comes with Speech Recognition takes about 30 minutes to complete, and it’s a good use of time. It teaches you the voice commands used in Speech Recognition.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter speech recognition in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click Speech Recognition.
3. 3. Tap or click Take Speech Tutorial.
4. 4. Follow the instructions in the Speech Recognition Tutorial.

To train your pc to recognize your speech

Speech Recognition uses a special voice profile to recognize your voice and spoken commands. The more you use Speech Recognition, the more detailed your voice profile becomes—and that should improve your pc's ability to understand you.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter speech recognition in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click Speech Recognition.
3. 3. Tap or click Train your computer to better understand you.
4. 4. Follow the instructions in the Speech Recognition Voice Training.

Using Speech Recognition

You can use your voice for many things, such as filling out online forms or typing letters. When you speak into the microphone, Speech Recognition changes your spoken words into text on the screen.

To dictate text using speech recognition

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter speech recognition in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Windows Speech Recognition.
3. 3. Say "start listening," or tap or click the Microphone button to start the listening mode.
4. 4. Open the app you want to use, or select the text box you want to dictate text into.
5. 5. Say the text you want to dictate.

To correct mistakes

You can correct mistakes in three different ways.

1. 1. To correct the last thing you said, say "correct that."
2. 2. To correct a single word, say "correct" followed by the word that you want to correct. If the word appears more than once, all instances will be highlighted, and you can choose the one you want to correct.
3. 3. In the Alternates panel dialog box, say the number next to the item you want, and then say "OK."

To add or change words in the speech dictionary

Using the Speech Dictionary, you can add your own words, stop a specific word from being dictated or corrected or delete a word in the dictionary.

1. 1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. 2. Enter speech recognition in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Windows Speech Recognition.
3. 3. Say "start listening," or tap or click the Microphone button to start the listening mode.
4. 4. Say "open Speech Dictionary" and do any of the following:
   • − To add a word to the dictionary, say "Add a new word," and then follow the instructions.
   • − To prevent a specific word from being dictated, say "Prevent a word from being dictated," and then follow the instructions.
   • − To correct or delete a word that is already in the dictionary, say "Change existing words," and then follow the instructions.

Controlling your pc with Speech Recognition

You can use simple, short commands to control your pc. The following table shows some of the most commonly used Speech Recognition commands. Words in italics mean you can replace the example word or phrase with similar words and get useful results.

Dictation Commands and Resulting Actions

Keyboard keys