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Accessibility options available within your Windows operating system provide you with the opportunity to personalise your computer to suit the way you want to study and work. Learn what you can personalise to improve your experience - features will vary depending on the operating system you are running. This page explores Windows 10. You can also visit the Microsoft Accessibility site (opens in a new window) to learn more about what you can achieve with your PC!
Microsoft have developed a suite of online videos that showcase real people as they engage with accessibility tools for education (opens in a new window). So take a look and be inspired by how accessible technology can support you!
Get started with your accessibility features
Outlined below are the key areas you can customise to support your specific requirements. Follow these simple steps to access your accessibility features;
Select the 'Start ' button.
Click 'Settings'.
Click 'Ease of Access'.
Select the ease of access option, such as Display or Voice Control so that you can personalise in the Dialogue box.
Vision
Browse through the Vision options to explore the features available to enhance and support your visual or non-visual experience. You may want to adjust settings to reduce or combat eye strain and fatigue, to assist with colour recognition, or to compensate for not having your glasses with you. You may also want to enable the screenreading function for non-visual access to your computer. Whatever the reason, there are lots of options you can tweak to help meet your needs.
Customisable features include;
Display settings.
Cursor and pointer appearance and behaviour.
Screen magnification.
Colour filters.
Contrast settings.
Narrator (including the level of detail provided by the Narrator).
Learn more about Vision features (opens in a new window) on the Microsoft site.
Making your display more accessible.
Using Narrator to read your screen.
Hearing
Do you have trouble hearing from your device, or prefer to have the option of captions that you can personalise to suit your requirements? The Hearing accessibility features include adjustable subtitles and captions (where available) in addition to visual alerts to make sure you don't miss your system alerts and reminders.
Learn more about Hearing features (opens in a new window) on the Microsoft site.
Interaction
However you interact with the computer, there are options to customise your experience. Do you have trouble typing or simply prefer to talk out your thoughts sometimes? Do you get a sore hand or wrist from constantly using the keyboard and mouse? Voice recognition and hardware adjustments can help take away the added time, stress and pain associated with typing notes, essays, reports and browsing through research. You are also able to adjust the language settings to suit your preferences.
Customisable features include;
Dictation and voice recognition tool.
Keyboard functions - sticky keys to help make multi-key keyboard shortcuts easier, customisable keyboard shortcuts for common tasks and an on-screen keyboard if needed.
Mouse settings - including defining button functions or using the keyboard to act as a mouse.
Language settings.
Eye control - with additional hardware.
Learn more about the range of Mobility features (opens in a new window) on the Microsoft site.
Microsoft also provides a range of Digital Learning Tools available through the Office 365 suite of products. Office 365 is available to all students and staff at Western as part of the Student Advantage and Staff Advantage packages. Find out more about these useful tools on the Microsoft Learning Tools in Office 365 page.
