- Introduction
- Understanding System Preferences
- Viewing System Preferences
- Locking and Unlocking Preference Settings
- Changing Appearance Options
- Setting Up the Desktop
- Setting Up Screen Savers
- Setting the Date and Time
- Changing Language Options
- Changing Text Substitution Options
- Saving Energy and Managing Power
- Selecting a Startup Disk
- Changing the Way a CD or DVD Starts
- Controlling Sound
- Dictating Your Speech
- Letting Mac Do the Talking
- Setting Accessibility Options
- Having VoiceOver Read from the Screen
- Setting VoiceOver Preferences
- Using VoiceOver Commands
- Setting Ink Preferences
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Setting Accessibility Options
The Accessibility pane (New!) in System Preferences makes it easier for a person with a disability, such as difficulty seeing or hearing or controlling a mouse or using a keyboard, to use a computer. You can set options to switch the screen to grayscale for more visual contrast, zoom in on the screen in a separate window to make it larger and easier to see, use VoiceOver so you can hear descriptions of screen items, have the screen flash when alert sounds occur, use Sticky Keys or Slow Keys to help control the keyboard, use Mouse Keys to make mouse functionality available on the numeric keypad, and use speech recognition to control your computer, such as using menus, using spoken commands. If you’re not sure where to find an option, you can use the Search field. You can the Accessibility pane anywhere on your Mac with the 
+Option+F5 keyboard shortcut (New!).
Set Seeing and Hearing Options
Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock, and then click the Accessibility icon.
Click the Display, Zoom, or VoiceOver category.
Specify the options you want for the selected category.- Display. Select or clear check boxes for the Invert colors or Use grayscale options. Use the sliders to adjust contrast and cursor size.
- Zoom. Select or clear check boxes for the Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom, Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom, Smooth images, or Zoom follows the keyboard focus options. Set the Zoom style to Fullscreen or Picture-in-picture. Click More Options to customize the way zoom works.
- VoiceOver. Select or clear the Enable VoiceOver check box.
Click the Audio category.
Select or clear the Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs check box.
Click the Close button.
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Set Keyboard, Mouse, Speech Recognition Options
- Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock, and then click the Accessibility icon.
- Click the Keyboard category.
- To press a group of modifier keys as a sequence, select the Enable Sticky Keys check box, and then click Options to set options to Beep when a modifier key is set or Display pressed keys on screen. If so, white symbols appear when you press a modifier key.
- To make the keyboard respond more slowly, select the Enable Slow Keys check box, and then click Options to set options to Acceptance delay or the Use click key sounds options.
- Click the Mouse & Trackpad category.
- To use the keyboard number pad to control the mouse, select the Enable Mouse Keys check box.
- Press 5 on the numeric keypad to click an item on the screen. Press 0 to press and hold, and then press 5 again to release, press and hold.
Click Options to set the Initial Delay for the pointer when you press the mouse or the Maximum Speed for the pointer.
Click the Speakable Items category.
To use spoken commands, click the Settings tab, select the On option, and then select and calibrate a microphone.
Click the Listening Key tab to set the start listening key and method.
Click the Commands tab to select groups of commands to use.
Click the Close button.
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