Ten Tips for the Awkward Age of Computing
Boomers can use Windows to personalize and customize their computers to make them easier to see, hear, and more comfortably use.
As we rack up birthdays, sooner or later we all experience some loss of vision, hearing, or physical dexterity. Fortunately, personalization options in Windows make it easy to adjust your PC.
Here are ten tips on how to counter the effects of aging to make your computer more comfortable to use.
If the images on your computer screen appear indistinct, or don't seem quite as sharp as they once did, you can customize the colors displayed on screen to make things easier to see. Explore these tutorials:
Do you find yourself fighting the urge to press your nose against the screen because you can't see text and objects clearly? Consider changing your monitor display settings to increase the size of icons or text for individual documents and Web pages. Explore these tutorials:
- Windows 7:
Make the computer easier to see,
Make the text on your screen larger or smaller,
Change colors, sounds, desktop background, screen saver, font size, and more,
- Windows Vista:
Change
the size of text and icons,
Change screen resolution,
Zoom
in on a Web page,
Change
text size on Web pages
- Windows XP: Use large icons, Increase or Decrease the Font Size of Web Pages Displayed on Screen
Having trouble seeing things that are close up? Magnifier, one of the accessibility utilities in Microsoft Windows, opens a window that enlarges all or parts of the screen you choose—just like a magnifying glass. Explore these tutorials:
If stiff joints or other dexterity issues are slowing you down, try using Windows Speech Recognition to write email and documents by speaking commands rather than using the keyboard and mouse. Explore these tutorials:
Are you having trouble hearing email alerts and other audible notifications of system events? In Windows you can choose to receive alerts visually auditorily or both. Explore these tutorials:
If your vision is beyond the point where magnification is enough, Narrator in Windows can help by converting text and captions to speech. If this problem is persistent, you may need a device called a screen reader. Explore these tutorials:
If you find yourself searching for your cursor or mouse pointer more often than you search the Web, you can change the size, appearance, width, speed, color and blink rate of your cursor, or the appearance of your pointer. Explore these tutorials:
Use Mouse Keys to transfer mouse functions to your numeric keypad, or try a
Microsoft mouse that is designed for maximum comfort. Explore these tutorials:
Sticky Keys allows you to type one key at a time to execute commands that usually require simultaneous key combinations, such as using SHIFT to type a capital letter, or CTRL+ALT+DEL to display the task manager. Explore these tutorials:
If you have a mild tremor or your stiff fingers are creating typos and other keyboard errors, Filter Keys can give you the equivalent of a steady hand by enabling your computer to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes that you make accidentally. Explore these tutorials:
Re-publication of Illustrations
If you would like to use any of the illustrations shown here for re-publication, please follow the instructions below:
- Position your mouse over the illustration
- Right click on your mouse
- Select "save picture as" from the pop-up menu
- Save the .gif file to your local machine
- In any accompanying text, please include the following credit: Courtesy of Brian Basset and Microsoft Corporation