Review of Window Ease of Access Center

1. Opening the Ease of Access Center

NOTE:  Students do NOT have access to the Ease of Access Settings on their own laptops.  To adjust your students' settings, please contact your Media Center Tech or District Technology Coach.

Step 1:  Click on the START menu on your screen and select Control Pannel and then Ease of Access and finally, Ease of Access Center.  

Step 2:  Click on the Ease of Access Center in your Control Pannel to review settings.

2. Screen Magnifier

The Screen Magnifier will enlarge whatever students see on the screen to make it easier to see.  Settings can also be adusted so that the enlargement follows either the mouse, keyboard text, or text entry point. 

3. Screen Narrator

The Microsoft Narrator will read aloud what is on-screen as you navigate using the keyboard.  You can also set the system to echo the user's keystrokes, announce system messages and even scroll notifications. 

4. On Screen Keyboard

Students who have trouble using either the laptop keyboard or touchpad mouse can bypass both by setting up the on-screen keyboard.  Furthermore, you can set-up Speech Recognition so that students can speak simple commands to type and navigate on their laptops.

5. Visibility Settings

Increasing things like color contrast, cursor settings, and removing background images can make things easier to see on the screen for your students.  

6. Mouse Settings

The mouse on your student laptop can be adusted to display a larger cursor, adjust the speed of the mouse and even replace the mouse with keyboard commands.

7. Keyboard Settings

Adjustable Keyboard Settings allow you to set up sticky keys (i.e. commands such as "Ctrl + Alt + Delete" can be types one at a time rather than at the same time), create keyboard shortcuts, set the response speed for your keyboard, and even alter the keyboard configuration to make it simpler for students to use.

8. Text or Visual Alternatives

Rather than relying on sound commands, your laptop can be set up to display text or or visually flash to alert the user to new windows, programs on the desktop or when programs are opened, closed or saved.