Steady Your Hands

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

If you have a mild tremor or your stiff fingers are creating typos and other keyboard errors, Filter Keys can give you the equivalent of a steady hand by enabling your computer to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes that you make accidentally. Here's how to use filter keys:

1. To open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Explore all settings, select:

Make the keyboard easier to use.

3. Under Make it easier to type, select:

Turn on Filter Keys.

4. In Set up Filter Keys, be sure Turn on Filter Keys is selected, then select from the following options:

Turn on Filter Keys when right SHIFT is pressed for 8 seconds if you want to use the shortcut key to turn Filter Keys on and off.

Display a warning message when turning a setting on if you want to see a visual message when turning Filter Keys on and off.

Make a sound when turning a setting on and off if you want an audible message when turning Filter Keys on and off.

Beep when keys are pressed or accepted if you want to hear a beep when keystrokes are accepted.

Display the Filter Keys icon on the taskbar if you want a visual reminder that Filter Keys is on.
Save to save your settings and close the dialog box.

5. Under Type text here to test settings:

Test your settings by typing within the box before saving your settings.