Accessibility
The system includes assistive technologies to support users with various impairments and special needs, and to interact with common assistive devices. An accessibility menu can be added to the taskbar, giving easier access to many of the accessibility features.
Visual impairments
Blindness
- Read screen aloud — Use the Orca screen reader to speak the user interface.
- Read screen in Braille — Use the Orca screen reader with a refreshable Braille display.
Low vision
- Adjust the contrast — Make windows and buttons on the screen more (or less) vivid, so they’re easier to see.
- Change text size on the screen — Use larger fonts to make text easier to read.
- Magnify a screen area — Zoom in on your screen so that it is easier to see things.
- Make the keyboard cursor blink — Make the insertion point blink and control how quickly it blinks.
Hearing impairments
- Flash the screen for alert sounds — Enable visual alerts to flash the screen or window when an alert sound is played.
Mobility impairments
Mouse movement
- Adjust the speed of the mouse and touchpad — Change how quickly the pointer moves when you use your mouse or touchpad.
- Click and move the mouse pointer using the keypad — Enable mouse keys to control the mouse with the numeric keypad.
Clicking and dragging
- Adjust the double-click speed — Control how quickly you need to press the mouse button a second time to double-click.
- Simulate a right mouse click — Press and hold the left mouse button to right-click.
- Simulate clicking by hovering — The Hover Click (Dwell Click) feature allows you to click by holding the mouse still.
Keyboard use
- Keyboard navigation — Use applications and the desktop without a mouse.
- Manage repeated key presses — Make the keyboard not repeat letters when you hold down a key, or change the delay and speed of repeat keys.
- Turn on bounce keys — Ignore quickly-repeated key presses of the same key.
- Turn on slow keys — Have a delay between a key being pressed and that letter appearing on the screen.
- Turn on sticky keys — Type keyboard shortcuts one key at a time rather than having to hold down all of the keys at once.
- Use an on-screen keyboard — Use an on-screen keyboard to enter text by clicking buttons with the mouse or a touchscreen.