Chapter 11. Ease of Access, Speech, and Language
This chapter is all about Windows 7's Ease of Access, Speech Recognition, Text-to-Speech, Handwriting Recognition, and Language options. These features offer alternatives to standard read, type, and click interaction with the computer.
Some features are designed for people with specific sensory, motor, cognitive, or seizure-related disabilities. Others aren't for any specific disability, but rather just offer an alternative way of doing things.
For example, if you just can't type worth beans, speech recognition lets you work your computer by talking. The Text-to-Speech option reads text aloud from the screen, which is good for any preschooler or any over-40 adult whose eyesight isn't what it used to be. In short, this isn't just a chapter for people with physical challenges. There's something for just about everyone here.
If several people share your computer, and different people have different needs, you should set up a user account for each person before you set the options described in this chapter. That way, you can tailor settings for each user. If you haven't gotten around to setting up user accounts yet, take a look at Chapter 3.
Introducing Ease of Access Center
Accessibility features for sensory and motor impairments are in the Ease of Access Center. If you have ...
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