Accessibility in Windows 7

Windows 7 includes accessibility options and programs that make it easier to see, hear, and use your computer including ways to personalize your PC. Windows 7 includes significant accessibility improvements. Magnifier now includes a lens mode and full-screen mode. On-Screen Keyboard can be resized to make it easier to see and includes text prediction. Windows 7 also gives you more ways to interact with your PC by taking advantage of new strides in speech recognition and touch technology.

Ease of Access Center

Ease of Access logo The Ease of Access Center provides a convenient, centralized place to locate accessibility settings and programs to make your computer easier to use. The Ease of Access Center can be found in the Control Panel by selecting Windows logo key+U and also when logging into Windows.

The Ease of Access Center includes:

Quick access to common tools. Start Magnifier, On-Screen Keyboard, Narrator, and High Contrast quickly.
Get recommendations to make your computer easier to use. An optional questionnaire provides a personalized list of recommended settings based on your answers to a series of questions about your eyesight, dexterity, hearing, and more. A custom list of recommended settings is provided so you can choose which options you want to try.
Explore all settings by category. Instead of looking for accessibility settings in various places, settings are organized so you can explore how to:

Screen shot of Make your computer easier to use screen in Control Panel

Make things on screen appear bigger with Magnifier

Magnifier enlarges portions of the screen making it easier to view text and images and see the whole screen more easily. Magnifier in Windows 7 now includes full-screen mode, lens mode, and docked mode.

The magnification quality is improved and you can set the magnification level up to 16 times the original size and choose to track what you magnify by movement of your mouse, the keyboard, or text editing.

The online video and how-to guide for Windows 7 Magnifier show how to:

Choose where Magnifier focuses so that it follows the movement of the mouse cursor, keyboard focus, or text editing
Change the zoom level
Set the zoom increment
Set the lens size
Turn on color inversion for better screen legibility
Display the Magnifier toolbar

image of Magnifier window on screen

Type without using the keyboard (On-Screen Keyboard)

On-Screen Keyboard displays a visual keyboard with all the standard keys. Instead of relying on the physical keyboard to type and enter data, you can use On-Screen Keyboard to select keys using the mouse or another pointing device.

On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 7 can be resized and customized to make it easier to see and use. On-Screen Keyboard now also includes text prediction in eight languages. When text prediction is enabled, as you type, On-Screen Keyboard displays a list of words that you might be typing.

The online video and how-to guide for Windows 7 On-Screen Keyboard shows how to:

Change how information is entered into On-Screen Keyboard
Set On-Screen Keyboard to use audible clicks
Use a numeric key pad in On-Screen Keyboard
Enable text prediction in On-Screen Keyboard

Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads text on the screen aloud and describes some events (such as an error message appearing) that happen while you're using the computer. You can find Narrator in the Ease of Access Center.

The how-to guide for Windows 7 Narrator shows how to:

Choose which text Narrator reads aloud
Change the Narrator voice
Start Narrator minimized

image of Narrator preferences dialog box

Make text on your screen larger or smaller

You can make the text and other items, such as icons, on your screen easier to see by making them larger. You can do this without changing the screen resolution of your monitor or laptop screen. This allows you to increase or decrease the size of text and other items on your screen while keeping your monitor or laptop set to its optimal resolution.

See the online video and how-to make the text on your screen larger or smaller.

image of Make it easier to read what's on your screen in Control Panel

Interact with your PC with Speech Recognition

Speech Recognition in Windows 7 allows you to command your PC with your voice including the capability to dictate into almost any application. You can dictate documents and e-mail and surfing the Web by saying what you see. An easy setup process and an interactive tutorial are available to familiarize you with the speech commands and train your computer to better understand you.

Learn what you can do with Speech Recognition and how-to set up Speech Recognition including how to set up your microphone, teach yourself how to talk to your computer, and train your computer to recognize your speech.

Also explore how to:

Windows Touch

While great for a lot of tasks, using a keyboard and mouse is not always the easiest way to do things. With Windows 7, if you've got a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom.

Learn more about Windows Touch.

image of computer screen with photo files

Assistive technology products for Windows

Assistive technology products are specialty hardware and software products that provide essential accessibility to computers for those with significant vision, hearing, dexterity, language, or learning needs. Many assistive technology products are compatible with Windows. Find more information about selecting and shopping for assistive technology products for Windows.

Overview of accessibility features in Windows 7

Feature	Description
Ease of Access Center	Provides a centralized location in the Control Panel where you can adjust accessibility settings and programs. You can also get recommendations for settings to make your PC easier to see, hear, and use.
Magnifier	Magnifies the screen or a portion of the screen to make text, images, and objects easier to see.
On-Screen Keyboard	A visual, on-screen keyboard with all the standard keys that you can use instead of a physical keyboard. On-Screen Keyboard also lets you type and enter data with a mouse or other pointing device.
Narrator	Reads aloud on-screen text and describes some events (such as error messages appearing) that happen while you're using the computer.
Speech Recognition	Enables you to interact with your computer using only your voice while maintaining, or even increasing, your productivity.
Change text size	Lets you make text and objects larger and easier to see without losing graphics quality.
Personalization	You can add a personal touch to your computer by changing the computer's theme, color, sounds, desktop background, screen saver, font size, and user account picture. You can also select specific gadgets for your desktop.
Touch	If you've got a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom.
Keyboard shortcuts	Keyboard combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to interact with your computer, saving you time and effort.
Sticky Keys	Instead of having to press three keys at once (such as when you must press the CTRL, ALT, and DELETE keys simultaneously to log on to Windows), you can press one key at a time when Sticky Keys is turned on.
Mouse Keys	Instead of using the mouse, you can use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad to move the pointer.
Filter Keys	Ignore keystrokes that occur in rapid succession and keystrokes that are held down for several seconds unintentionally.
Visual Notifications	Replace system sounds with visual cues, such as a flash on the screen, so system alerts are announced with visual notifications instead of sounds.
Captions	Get information via animations and video that some programs use to indicate that activity is happening on your computer.