Using Visual Alerts for the Hearing

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 would rather receive notifications for system sounds visually rather than audibly, you can select Turn on visual notifications for sounds (Sound Sentry), and then choose the visual warning you want.

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:

Use text or visual alternatives for sounds.

3. Under Use visual cues instead of sounds, select:

Turn on visual notifications for sounds (Sound Sentry).

4. Under Choose visual warning, select one of the following options:

None.
Flash active caption bar.
Flash active window.
Flash desktop.
Select Save.