ARCHIVED: In Mac OS, what does the Easy Access control panel do?

Note: This information does not apply to Mac OS X.

Part of Apple's Universal Access software, the Easy Access control panel provides tools to make Mac OS more accessible to users who have difficulty using the mouse or keyboard. To install it, follow these steps:

1. Insert your Software Install CD and double-click the CD Extras folder within.
   
   
2. Double-click the Universal Access folder.
   
   
3. Drag the Easy Access control panel to your closed System Folder.
   
   
4. Click OK when the system asks to put Easy Access into the Control Panels folder.
   
   
5. Restart your computer.

Easy Access provides three basic features:

Mouse Keys

The Mouse Keys function allows you to click, double-click, resize a window, drag, and perform other mouse actions using the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard. Following is a list of the numeric keypad keys and their functions:

To turn on the Mouse Keys function, press Cmd-Shift-Clear. To turn Mouse Keys off, press the Clear key on the numeric keypad. The Easy Access control panel also lets you turn Mouse Keys on and off, adjust the speed of the pointer's movement, and adjust the length of the delay before the pointer moves.

Slow Keys

Slow Keys changes the sensitivity of the keyboard by creating a delay between acceptable keystrokes. With this feature enabled, your keyboard will accept the first keystroke, and then wait anywhere from a split second to a few seconds before it accepts the next keystroke, ignoring any typing in between.

To turn Slow Keys on or off, hold the Return key for four seconds, until an alert sound notifies you that the feature has been toggled.

You can change the settings for Slow Keys in the Easy Access control panel. In addition to turning Slow Keys on and off, the control panel lets you adjust the delay between accepted keystrokes. You can also set Slow Keys to produce an audible click whenever a keystroke is accepted.

Sticky Keys

Sticky Keys allows you to type keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Cmd-s for save, or Cmd-p to print) without pressing more than one key at a time. With Sticky Keys active, you can type a keyboard shortcut by first pressing the modifier key (Cmd, Ctrl, or Shift), and then pressing the character key. An icon at the extreme right of the menu bar at the top of the screen changes to indicate whether Sticky Keys is on and whether a modifier key has been pressed or locked.

To turn Sticky Keys on or off, press the Shift key five times without moving the mouse.

You can also turn Sticky Keys on and off in the Easy Access control panel, as well as set Sticky Keys to beep whenever you press a modifier key.

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