operating system. To use the Ease of Access Center, open Control Panel and click Ease of Access
➙ Ease of Access Center.
The following information provides ways to help users who have hearing, vision, and mobility limitations get
the most out of their computer experience.
On-screen notification
On-screen notification helps hearing-impaired people be aware of the status of their computer. On-screen
notification replaces sounds with visual cues or text captions to indicate that activity is happening on the
computer. As a result, system alerts are noticeable even when they are not heard. For example, when you
select one object with your keyboard, the object is highlighted. When you move the pointer to one object
with your mouse, the introductory text of the object is displayed.
To use on-screen notification, open Control Panel, click Ease of Access ➙ Ease of Access Center, and
then click Use text or visual alternative for sounds.
Audio notification
Audio notification helps visually impaired people or people with weak sight be aware of the status of their
computer.
To use audio notification, open Control Panel, click Ease of Access ➙ Ease of Access Center ➙ Use the
computer without a display, and then select Turn on Audio Description.
Narrator
Narrator is a screen reader that reads what is displayed on the screen aloud and describes events like
error messages.
To open Narrator, do the following:
• For Windows 7: Click the Start button. Then, type Narrator into the search field. In the list of results,
click Narrator.
• For Windows 8.1: Click the Search icon on the top-right corner of the Start screen and then type Narrator
into the displayed search box. If you are using a keyboard, you can just start typing on the Start screen and
then the search box and search results are displayed automatically. In the list of results, click Narrator.
For more information about how to use and configure Narrator, see the Windows Help and Support
information system.
Screen-reader technologies
Screen-reader technologies are primarily focused on software program interfaces, help information systems,
and a variety of online documents. For additional information about screen readers, see the following:
• Using PDFs with screen readers:
http://www.adobe.com/accessibility.html?promoid=DJGVE
• Using the JAWS screen reader:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/jaws-hq.asp
• Using the NVDA screen reader:
http://www.nvaccess.org/
Speech Recognition
Speech Recognition enables you to control your computer by voice.
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Chapter 4
You and your computer
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