Selecting Control Panels folder icon in the System Folder
by Paul Corr
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The Apple Macintosh system software includes two control panels that can be used to modify the Mac for those users with special needs. When System 7.0 is installed they are not placed on the hard drive with other system files as they are optional utilities. CloseView is included on the Install 3 disk and EasyAccess is on the Tidbits disk.
Selecting Control Panels folder icon in the System Folder
Easy Access, shown in the next screen shot, is a control panel that when installed in the Control Panels folder gives users with limited range of motion a collection of util-ities that modify the Mac keyboard allowing it to replace a mouse or trackball as the input device. This collection includes Sticky Keys, Mouse Keys, and Slow Keys.
The first of the three utilities, Mouse Keys, can be activated by the key combination Command-Shift-Clear (located on the numeric keypad.) If "use audio feedback" is checked in the control panel a musical scale that rises in pitch is played when it is activated and when it is deactivated the musical scale drops in pitch.
This utility allows the number keys of the numeric keypad to replace mouse functions. The "5" key has the same function as the mouse when it is pressed and released. The "0" key locks the mouse button down for dragging or drawing. The "5" key releases the mouse button after "0" has been used.
If "5" can be considered a reference point then directly below and above "5" are the "2" and "8" keys respectively. These move the mouse straight down and straight up. The "4" and "6" keys move the mouse directly left and right and the "7,9,1, 2" keys move the mouse up-and-left, up-and-right, down-and-left and down-and-right at 45deg. angles. Mouse Keys can be disabled by again pressing Command-Option-Clear.
The second utility, Slow Keys, allows the user to set the delay on how long a key is pressed before the Mac recognizes it as a keystroke. It turns off the Mac's key repeat feature. Its audio feed back is a click when it is first pressed and another when the Mac accepts it as a keystroke. This utility doesn't have a keyboard command shortcut to turn it on and off. It needs to be activated and deactivated through the Easy Access control panel which can be reached through the Control Panels icon in the Apple Menu (top left corner of your screen.)
The last of the three utilities, Sticky Keys, can be activated by pressing the Shift key five (5) times. This uses the same audio feedback as Mouse Keys, the musical scale.When Sticky Keys is active an icon appears in the upper right corner of the menu bar giving visual feedback for pressing keyboard command sequences. It consists of a square "U" and an arrow that points down into the top of the "U." A single beep sounds after the Command key is pressed and the arrow appears. Another beep sounds as the arrow drops into the "U" highlighting the combination. (If you hit the Shift key five times by mistake and see the Sticky Keys icon or are alerted by hearing the sound pressing the shift key five times will deactivate it.)
This utility allows a user to execute commands using a stylus or single finger hitting individual keys for keyboard combinations. Pressing the Shift key five times after the command is executed deactivates Sticky Keys to resume normal typing.
CloseView, the control panel shown in this third screen shot on the next page, is used to magnify the Mac screen to assist those visually impaired users. After it is installed in the Control Panels folder inside the System Folder it can be activated by the key combination Command-Option-O (for Open.) At this command a rectangular frame appears around the cursor on the screen. The level of magnification can be previewed by executing Command-Option-(up arrow), to increase magnification, or Command-Option-(down arrow), to decrease magnification. The range is 2x through 16x magnification. The frame shown on the screen will change allowing you to see the area outlined by the frame that will fill the screen when the third command is executed.
Command-Option-X, turns the magnification on and the area outlined by the frame expands to fill the screen. The screen redraws will be a little jerky as you move the cursor. I use the Mouse Keys to move the cursor when I am using CloseView.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Action Prior to 7.5.3 7.5.3 and above Open Command-Option-O Command-Option-K Magnify Command-Option-X Command-Option-X Increase Magnif. Command-Option-(up arrow) Command-Option-(+) Decrease Magnif. Command-Option-(down arrow) Command-Option-(-)
Using these two control panels in conjunction with the keyboard shortcuts available in the Finder and other Mac applications can ease operating the Mac for those users with special needs. While an extended keyboard is handy with its function keys and Page-Up and Page-Down keys the basic keyboard has similar capabilities through combinations of keys. Several are listed in the Finder Shortcuts choice in the System 7 Balloon Help menu when in the Finder, which is the desktop application the Mac activates upon startup. I don't have an extended keyboard and I have used Command-(up arrow) to jump the insertion point to the top of the document and Command-(down arrow) similarly moves the insertion point to the bottom. Command-(left arrow) jumps the insertion point to the beginning of a line of text and Command-(right arrow) jumps to the end of a text line. Option-(uparrow) or (down arrow) moves by paragraph and the plain arrow keys move a line up/down or a character right/left at a time. This may change in different applications.
There are many other utilities, commercial and shareware, that can be useful.
I hope this quick intro to possibilities on the Mac has been helpful.