Windows accessible to everyone: this is the accessibility center
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Unfortunately, not all people have the same ability to use a computer: due to age, disability, lack of knowledge of the system … but luckily, with systems like Windows, that won't be a problem at all.
Windows has incorporated, for many years, a series of tools that will make computer systems accessible to all users without any obstacles other than the desire to enjoy their equipment. Let's meet the Windows Ease of Access Center.
Variety of resources
The Windows Accessibility Center puts at our disposal several types of tools designed to suit the most varied personal needs, some of them are the most common: as is the case of the Magnifying Glass, the Narrator, the On-Screen Keyboardand the use of High Contrast
Thanks to the Windows Magnifier we will be able to enlarge everything we see on the screen to be able to read the texts and see the graphics or images to a larger size than usualWe can modify the size or indicate the way we want to see it (a box, floating, etc).
Narrator will help us in auditory way to know which are all the menus and windows open in Windows, if we go through all the options with the help of our keyboard or mouse and press space to access them.The voice will narrate in our predefined language each and every one of the sections in which we find ourselves and its function.
The On-Screen Keyboard, which is well known by Windows tablet users, will allow us to type any word or number thanks to the use of a virtual keyboardthat will appear on the Windows screen, it is also very helpful if our main keyboard suffers a breakdown and we find ourselves in an emergency.
High Contrast allows visually impaired users to enable a contrasting color theme in Windows menus and windows so they can better identify each item .
Highly customizable settings
We have many types of configuration possible to customize in the Ease of Access Center, we can use our Windows computer without a screen by activating Narrator and the audio description in videos, if possible, we can also limit annoying animations or disable applications that interfere with the use of these tools.
We can also facilitate the use of the equipment by optimizing its visual presentation, in addition to the contrast, the narrator and the audio description, we can activate the Magnifying Glass, increase the thickness of the focus rectangle when typing, and modify the appearance and sound effects. If we find ourselves without a mouse or keyboard, we can use the aforementioned on-screen keyboard or voice recognition thanks to a microphone. We can also change the effects of the pointer itself and even the option of moving the mouse cursor with the keyboard arrows.
We can configure keyboard combinations and their abbreviated methods to access advanced functions, such as the command “Ctrl+Alt+Del ” without having to press those three keys. We can also add a keyboard with Dvorak layout (another system different from the usual QWERTY) and configure it.
If we do not have the possibility of using speakers or if we have deficiencies or hearing difficulties, we can activate visual sound notifications: flashing title bars , flashing windows or flashing desktop. We can also add sub titles to the texts that are heard, if possible.
Finally, if we have a tablet with Windows, we can indicate key combinations to launch specific accessibility tools: Narrator, the magnifying glass, etc. We can also optimize the use of touch on the touch screen and the whiteboard.
