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This chapter provides information on AccessX, Puff, Optacon, and Xsoundsentry. These utilities provide features to help people with physical, hearing, and visual disabilities.
AccessX provides features to help people with different disabilities interact with Digital workstations running the DIGITAL UNIX operating system (Version 3.0 or higher). These features can make it easier for you to use the standard workstation input devices: the keyboard and the mouse. You interact with the workstation as usual, by entering commands and manipulating menus and dialog boxes. However, with AccessX, you have an easier time performing these input operations.
This section discusses the AccessX features. These features have been incorporated into the DIGITAL UNIX operating system software, so they are available for you to turn on whenever you want to use them. In some instances, you might need to have an administrator establish certain default settings. But, you can turn the features on and off any time.
The following list summarizes the features:
The StickyKeys feature lets you perform multikey operations with one hand, one finger, or a mouth stick. You can use this feature to enter uppercase letters or certain punctuation characters without having to hold down the Shift Lock key while you press the letter key. This feature also makes it easier to enter control characters such as Ctrl/c.
The MouseKeys feature lets you use keys on the numeric keypad as well as other keyboard keys instead of the mouse to perform input functions such as clicking on objects or moving the cursor. With this feature, you can use one finger or a mouth stick to move the cursor to different areas of the screen, manipulate menus, and select, cut, and paste text.
The ToggleKeys feature provides audio feedback when a keyboard light indicator has been turned on or off. This feature can help people who might have difficulty seeing the keyboard light indicators for these keys or people who are using a keyboard that does not provide light indicators for any keyboard settings.
The RepeatKeys feature allows you to adjust how fast the auto-repeat keyboard mechanism responds or to turn it off entirely. With this feature turned on, you can set your keyboard so that holding down a key for a longer than average time will not result in a second entry of that character.
The SlowKeys feature makes the keys less likely to respond when brushed accidentally. With this feature turned on, the computer only accepts a key stroke that is held a certain length of time. The computer ignores light keystrokes that are held only for a moment.
The BounceKeys feature eliminates the problem of pressing a key and then accidentally pressing it again before moving to another key. You can set this feature to tell the computer not to process a second pressing of a key unless a certain amount of time elapses between each pressing.
The TimeOut feature shuts off the AccessX features on a workstation after a specified period of time. With the TimeOut feature turned on, if you are sharing a workstation and have set some AccessX features, the settings will automatically be turned off before the next person uses the machine. If you want to retain the AccessX settings all the time, you can turn off the TimeOut feature.
There are two ways to enable AccessX on your workstation:
accessx
command and press the Enable AccessX button in the dialog box that appears.
+accessx flag
with the Xdec command to enable AccessX whenever your system starts up.
You can select the AccessX features from the AccessX dialog box that appears when you choose AccessX from the Applications menu
of the DXsession
Session Manager or enter the accessx command. You use the Adjust Settings dialog box to customize some of the AccessX
features. The Adjust Settings dialog box has a Test Area where
you can try out settings before applying them to your session.
The next section explains how to bring up the AccessX dialog box and use it to select the AccessX features. The following sections in the chapter explain each feature in detail and provide instructions on how to turn the feature on and off, use it, and customize it. The next to last section explains how to use the Adjust Settings dialog box and the Test Area. The final section discusses the items in the AccessX menu bar.
If you are using a workstation for the first time, be sure to read the earlier chapters in this manual for information about how to use menus, dialog boxes, and other components of the windowing interface.
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To use the AccessX features, you can enter accessx
at the keyboard or select AccessX from the Applications
menu in the Session Manager menu bar. Then, you enable AccessX
and the feature or features you want.
Note that there are ways to turn on many of the AccessX features directly
from the keyboard. You can use these methods at any time, without having
to type accessx or select AccessX from the Applications menu. These methods are explained in the sections that describe the
individual AccessX features.
When you enter the accessx command or select AccessX from the Applications menu, the AccessX dialog
box
appears on
your workstation screen.
Figure 10-1
shows the AccessX dialog box.
![[Figure]](FIGU_006.GIF)
The AccessX dialog box has three areas:
The following sections discuss each area.
Note
As you might expect, you can use the mouse to move the pointer anywhere in the AccessX and the Adjust Settings dialog boxes. Once you are in the box, you can also use the Tab key to jump from one area to another within the box. In the Adjust Settings dialog box, you can use the arrow keys to manipulate the sliders to change various settings.
The AccessX dialog box has push buttons for the utility as a whole. The following list describes the buttons.
Click on the Enable AccessX button to turn on the AccessX utility. The button shown in the dialog box will appear to be pushed in. Now, all the individual AccessX features are available for you to enable (that is, turn on). To turn off the AccessX utility, click on the Enable AccessX button so that it appears pushed out in the dialog box.
Note that when the Enable AccessX button is pushed out (turned off), you cannot manipulate any of the other buttons in the dialog box. However, you can still select items in the menu bar.
When you turn the individual AccessX features on or off, the workstation can provide an audible signal; a low-pitched beep followed by a high-pitched beep for ON and a high-pitched beep followed by a low-pitched beep for OFF). You can decide whether you like these audible signals or whether you want to suppress them. Click on the "Beep on feature use" button if you want the workstation to provide the audible signals. The button in the dialog box will appear to be pushed in. If you do not want the workstation to produce these signals, click on the button in the dialog box so that it appears to be pushed out.
You might find that when you first start using AccessX features, you want the audible signals. Later on, you might prefer to use AccessX without the beeps. To eliminate them, click on the "Beep on feature use" button so that it appears pushed out.
The status bar displays the status of the keyboard modifiers and the pointer buttons. A section of the status bar shows you what modifiers are locked. If StickyKeys are turned on, when the control key is pressed the first time, it latches the control key and the status box displays this as Modifiers: Control. Figure 10-2 shows a sample Status message box.
![[Figure]](FIGU_007.GIF)
With the TimeOut feature turned on, the workstation automatically turns off AccessX when the machine is not used for a certain length of time. To use this feature, click on the TimeOut button.
Notice the slider field to the right of the TimeOut button. You use this field to set the length of time in minutes that you want the workstation to wait before it automatically turns off AccessX. To operate the slider, make sure that the TimeOut button is pushed in. Then, use the mouse to place the cursor on the slider block inside the field. Press MB1 (mouse button 1) to move the slider to the right or left until the number over the block shows the number of minutes you want to set for the TimeOut feature. You can also press the left and right arrow keys to move the slider.
The length of time it takes before the TimeOut feature turns off AccessX ranges from 1 to 10 minutes. The shorter slider time values are toward the left; the longer ones are toward the right.
Note
Sliders can be difficult to manipulate with the mouse. If you enabled the MouseKeys feature, the movement of the slider will be easier to control. You can also use the left and right arrow keys to move the slider by a single increment. Using the arrow keys offers the best control for moving the slider.
The bottom portion of the AccessX dialog box contains two boxes with three buttons each. The Keyboard Control box has buttons for the following AccessX features:
You use these features to control your working environment.
The Keyboard Response box has buttons for the following AccessX features:
You use these features to customize how keys respond when you press them.
To turn any of these six keyboard features on, use the mouse to move the cursor to the appropriate button and click on it. The workstation displays the button as pushed in to indicate that the feature is turned on. To turn off a feature, click on the button so that the workstation displays it as being pushed out.
Remember that you can turn some of the features on or off directly from the keyboard without having to display the AccessX dialog box. The methods for turning on features directly from the keyboard are explained later in this chapter under the sections for those features that have the keyboard capability.
The following is a list of items in the AccessX menu bar:
Each menu item contains a submenu. To access the submenu, click on the menu item and then hold down MB1 to display the submenu, or press the Alt key and enter the mnemonic, that is, the underlined letter in the menu. (For example, to access the Adjust menu, press Alt and then enter the letter A.)
The following sections discuss each of the submenus.
The File menu has three items:
Select Exit to dismiss the AccessX dialog box and exit from the utility.
The other two menu items deal with saving settings you changed in one or more of the Adjust dialog boxes: Adjust Settings, StickyKeys Adjust, MouseKeys Adjust, or Keyboard Response Adjust. After you finish modifying any settings and pressing the OK button, you need to select the File submenu and then the Save Settings item to preserve your changes.
When you select Save Settings, the settings are recorded in an X Window System resource file. Resource files are used to set the characteristics of your workstation environment, including the number and locations of windows that appear on the desk top when you log in, background and foreground colors, and any AccessX settings.
If you use Save Settings to store your settings in a resource file, those customizations remain in effect each time you log in to your workstation and enable the AccessX utility. Whenever you make changes to your AccessX settings, select Save Settings to store the new settings for the rest of your work session as well as future work sessions.
When you select Save Settings, the utility displays the Save Information message box to indicate whether the save is successful or not. If the save is successful, the message Saved User Profile Successfully appears in the box. If AccessX has a problem saving the settings you specified, it provides an appropriate error message in this box. Figure 10-3 shows a sample Save Information message box.
![[Figure]](FIGU_009.GIF)
If you start making changes to your AccessX settings and then decide you want to restore the settings that were in place at the start of your work session, select Load Settings from the File menu. This menu item reloads the settings that are in the resource file as a result of the last Save Settings action you performed. Figure 10-4 shows a sample Load Information message box.
![[Figure]](FIGU_010.GIF)
The Adjust submenu allows you to access the complete Adjust Settings dialog box or a specific portion of that box. The Adjust submenu has four items:
When you select All..., the complete Adjust Settings dialog box appears. This box includes areas for customizing StickyKeys, MouseKeys, RepeatKeys, SlowKeys, and BounceKeys. There is a Test Area near the bottom of the dialog box that you can use to try out your settings. The action buttons are at the bottom of the box: OK, Reset, Defaults, Cancel, and Help. You use the OK button when you are satisfied with your customizations and want to load or save your settings. If you want to restore the settings that were in effect before you did any customization, press Reset. Use Defaults to restore the default system settings. Use Cancel to exit from the dialog box without making any changes. Press the Help button for details about the various elements of the dialog box.
When you select the StickyKeys... submenu item, AccessX displays the StickyKeys portion of the Adjust Settings dialog box, along with a Test Area and the four action buttons. You should select this menu item if you want to customize only the StickyKeys feature.
Similarly, select the MouseKeys... submenu item if you want to customize only that feature. The resulting dialog box includes the MouseKeys portion of the Adjust Settings dialog box and the four action buttons. Note that there is no Test Area in the MouseKeys dialog box. To test your MouseKeys settings, move the cursor by pressing one of the direction keys on the keypad.
If you select Keyboard Response..., you see the RepeatKeys, SlowKeys, and BounceKeys areas of the Adjust Settings dialog box. Again, there is a Test Area where you can try out your settings. The action buttons are at the bottom of this display.
Section 10.1.2 contains complete details on using the Adjust Settings dialog box to customize your AccessX environment. This information applies to the StickyKeys, MouseKeys, and Keyboard Response dialog boxes as well.
The Status submenu shows the current status of the following AccessX features:
When you select one of these items, a corresponding status box is displayed in the upper left corner of your workstation screen. You can leave the status box displayed while you work if you want. When you are finished with the box, press the close button at the bottom to dismiss the box.
When you select StickyKeys..., the utility displays the StickyKeys status box. There are two columns in this box: Latched and Locked. When you have turned on the StickyKeys feature and used it to latch or lock some keys, this status box shows which keys you have set. Figure 10-5 shows the StickyKeys status box.
The StickyKeys status box reports on seven modifier keys. The following table contains the names of the modifiers keys and their corresponding keyboard keys. Note that DIGITAL UNIX does not assign functions to all modifier keys.
| Modifier | |
| Key Name | Corresponding Keyboard Key |
| Shift | Shift Key |
| Control | Ctrl Key |
| Mod 1 | Usually Alt Key |
| Mod 2 | Usually unassigned |
| Mod 3 | Usually unassigned |
| Mod 4 | Often Num Lock |
| Mod 5 | Usually unassigned |
![[Figure]](FIGU_003.GIF)
The MouseKeys status box shows the current mouse button key as well as which mouse button keys are pressed or released. If you are using the MouseKeys feature, whenever you select a mouse button from the numeric keypad, that button is displayed as the Current Button. It remains the Current Button until you select a different mouse button. When you click on a mouse button or press 5 on the numeric keypad with MouseKeys in effect, the MouseKeys status box lets you know which button is being pressed and when it is released. Figure 10-6 shows the MouseKeys status box.
![[Figure]](FIGU_004.GIF)
These status boxes are helpful in keeping track of which modifier key or mouse button is in effect, especially if you are interrupted in the midst of a multikey operation. You can keep one or both of these status boxes visible at the side on your desk top while you are using AccessX so that you can check the StickyKeys or MouseKeys status at any time. .++
You use the Help submenu to get information about the AccessX features on line while you are using the utility. The Help topics cover much of the same information that is available in this chapter. There are seven help topics:
To read the online descriptions, select Help from the AccessX menu bar and then select the topic you want from the Help submenu. The utility displays an AccessX Help window with the information. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the window to move through the descriptions. When you are finished reading, press the Close button at the bottom of the window.
Figure 10-7 shows the Adjust Settings dialog box. There are six areas: one for the five keyboard features that you can customize and the Test Area. You can use the Test Area to try out the different customizations to be sure you are comfortable with the new settings.
![[Figure]](FIGU_005.GIF)
Notice that most of the selections include a slider at the right. Use MB1 (mouse button 1) or the arrow keys to operate the sliders. The scales and values of each slider differ. See the sections on the individual AccessX features for details about each setting.
At the bottom of the box are five buttons: OK, Reset, Defaults, Cancel, and Help. Click on the OK button to indicate that you have completed selecting the customizations you want and are ready for AccessX to implement your choices. Use the Reset button to restore the settings to the way they were before you started to make changes. Use the Defaults button to restore the default system settings. Click on the Cancel button if you want to undo your changes. Click on the Help button to get information about the various boxes within the dialog box.
Near the bottom of the Adjust Settings dialog box is a box labeled Test Area. Use this area to test the settings you have made for the following AccessX features:
ToggleKeys has no customization, so you do not need to use the Test Area for that feature. To test the MouseKeys feature, move the cursor by pressing one of the direction keys on the keypad.
The StickyKeys Adjust and the Keyboard Response Adjust dialog boxes each have Test Areas. You use these Test Areas exactly as you do the one in the Adjust Settings dialog box.
To use the Test Area, do the following:
When you move the cursor out of the Test Area box, you automatically shut off that box. Once you are satisfied with your settings, you can close the Adjust Settings dialog box and continue with your work.
Certain computer operations require pressing a key and holding it down while pressing a second key. For example, to enter the dollar sign ($), you need to press the Shift key and hold it down while pressing the 4 key on the main keyboard. With the StickyKeys feature turned on, you no longer have to hold the first key down while pressing the second one when you enter such things as uppercase letters or control characters. After you press the first key of a two-key sequence, you can release it; it stays in effect until you finish pressing the second key.
The StickyKeys feature works for the Shift, Control, Compose Character, and Alt Function keys. These keys are known as modifier keys. You use these modifier keys to enter uppercase letters, control characters, 8-bit characters (for example, letters with accent marks), and keyboard accelerators. The StickyKeys feature enables you to press a modifier key and then the key it is to modify with one hand, one finger, or a mouth stick.
The following sections describe how to turn the StickyKeys feature on and off, use it to enter data, and customize its settings.
You can turn on the StickyKeys feature at any time while you are using your workstation. Use either the AccessX dialog box or your keyboard to turn StickyKeys on or off.
To turn on the StickyKeys feature from the keyboard, press one of the Shift keys on your keyboard five times in succession. Avoid pressing any other keys or moving the mouse until you have finished pressing Shift for the fifth time.
When you turn on StickyKeys, the computer signals with one short, low-pitched beep followed by a short, high-pitched beep. (You can reset AccessX to suppress this audible signal by turning off the "Beep on feature use" button in the AccessX dialog box.)
You turn off StickyKeys the same way you turn it on: by pressing one of the Shift keys five times in succession. When you turn off the feature, the computer signals with a high-pitched beep followed by a low-pitched beep, unless you have customized your AccessX environment to turn off audible signals.
The StickyKeys feature works in two ways:
When you latch a modifier key, only the next key you type is affected. You might use latching for entering control key sequences, accessing punctuation characters that require the Shift key (such as the dollar sign or parentheses), entering letters with accents, or typing the first letter of a person's name.
Follow these steps to latch a modifier key:
Note that there is no change to the way the Shift Lock key works when you have StickyKeys turned on.
Locking a modifier key is similar to using the Shift Lock key. With locking in effect, the modifier key remains in effect until you unlock it. In general, you will use the locking feature to enter a group of all uppercase letters or shifted punctuation characters such as the underscore to make a solid line.
Follow these steps to lock and unlock a modifier key:
Using locked StickyKeys with the Shift key is not the same as pressing the Shift Lock (Caps) key on the keyboard. With locked StickyKeys, you enter all the alternate punctuation marks that are paired with the digit keys and other punctuation characters on the main keyboard. For example, with locked StickyKeys, you would input a percent sign when you pressed the 5 key on the main keyboard. With the Shift Lock key in effect, pressing that 5 key would input the digit 5.
Occasionally, you might need to latch more than one modifier key, for example, to enter an uppercase letter with an accent mark or to produce a control key sequence such as Ctrl/^. If you have StickyKeys turned on, all you need to do is press each key in succession. The first modifier key will stay latched while you press the second one and then the non-modifier key. As soon as you have pressed the non-modifier key, both modifier keys are released.
During your work session, you can use the Status submenu on the AccessX menu bar to determine which StickyKeys have been locked or latched. See Section 10.1.1.3.3 for details.
To customize your StickyKeys environment, select the All... or StickyKeys... item from the Adjust menu. The StickyKeys feature has the following option buttons:
You can set the StickyKeys feature to turn off automatically whenever a person uses a modifier key by holding it down while pressing another key. To set the turnoff to be automatic in this way, click on this button to push it in. Automatic turnoff can be useful if several people are using the same workstation and some of them might not be accustomed to using the StickyKeys feature.
You can decide whether you want the workstation to produce beeps whenever you lock, latch, or release a modifier key. Click on the Modifiers beep button to have the workstation give an audible signal. Note that you can turn this signal on or off regardless of whether you have selected the "Beep on feature use" item in the AccessX dialog box.
With the MouseKeys feature, you can press keys on the numerical keypad instead of manipulating the mouse to move the cursor and perform window operations such as selecting menus, interacting with dialog boxes, and cutting and pasting text.
The following sections describe how to turn the MouseKeys feature on and off, use it to perform window operations, and customize the settings.
You can turn on the MouseKeys feature at any time while you are using your workstation. Use either the AccessX dialog box or your keyboard to turn MouseKeys on or off.
To turn on the MouseKeys feature from your keyboard, you need to enter a sequence of three keys: the left Shift key, the key directly to the left of the space bar, and the key in the upper left corner of the numeric keypad. (The key to the left of the space bar might be labeled Compose Character or Alt Function. The key in the upper left corner of the numeric keypad might be labeled PF1 or Num-Lock.) To enter this key sequence, you must hold down the left Shift key, press and hold down the key to the left of the space bar, and then press the key in the upper left corner of the numeric keypad. You can use the StickyKeys or Slow Keys feature to help you enter this multikey sequence.
When you turn on MouseKeys, the computer signals with a low-pitched beep followed by a high-pitched beep. (You can reset AccessX to suppress this audible signal by turning off the "Beep on feature use" button in the AccessX dialog box.)
To turn off MouseKeys, press the same combination you used to turn on the feature: the left Shift key, then the key to the left of the space bar, and finally the upper left key on the numeric keypad. When you turn off this feature, the computer signals with a high-pitched beep followed by a low-pitched beep, unless you have customized your environment to turn off that sound.
In the MouseKeys feature, the actions that can be performed with a mouse have been mapped to the keys on the numeric keypad at the right side of your workstation keyboard. You can perform the following operations:
Figure 10-8 shows the numeric keypad with the mouse key operations marked for LK401-style keyboards. Figure 10-9 shows the numeric keypad with the mouse key operations marked for the PC-style keyboards.
![[Figure]](FIGU_002.GIF)
![[Figure]](FIGU_001.GIF)
To move the cursor on the screen, press the keys that have directional arrows in Figure 10-8 or Figure 10-9. Keys 2, 4, 6, and 8 move the cursor in a straight line, either down, to the left, to the right, or up. Keys 1, 3, 7, and 9 move the cursor in a diagonal line, either to the lower left, lower right, upper left, or upper right. Use the keys in combination to locate the cursor in the exact position you need.
You can hold down a key to continue moving the cursor in the direction you want. When you first press one of these keys, the cursor moves slowly, but as you continue to hold down the key, the movement speeds up. You can adjust this maximum speed to be either faster or slower than the default setting. See Section 10.1.4.4 for details.
To select a mouse button (MB1, MB2, or MB3), press the appropriate key on the top row of the numeric keypad. Note that the MouseKeys feature considers MB1 to be the default. If you are using MB1 to click or double click on an object, all you have to do is press the appropriate click key; you can eliminate first pressing the PF2 key or the slash (/) key on the PC-style numeric keypad.
To perform a single click with MouseKeys, press the 5 key on the numeric keypad. Pressing this key performs operations such as selecting the window that you want to work in, selecting a menu item, pressing a push button in a dialog box, or dismissing a window. If you press the 5 key without having selected a mouse button, MouseKeys assumes that you want MB1.
There are two ways to perform a double click operation. You can press the 5 key twice in succession, or you can press the comma (,) key or plus sign (+) key on PC-style keyboards. Double clicking is used to start certain operations in some applications.
Locking a mouse button enables you to move to an item you want to select from a pull-down menu or to select text from one location to paste in another. You use the locking feature so that you can move the cursor in a drag operation. Use the 0 key on the numeric keypad to lock a mouse button. Press the period (.) key on the numeric keypad to release a mouse button. If you have not selected a mouse button before pressing the 0 key, MouseKeys assumes that you want to lock MB1.
A common lock and drag operation that you can do with MouseKeys is to cut and paste text. You need to cut and paste text when you want to copy something from one place in a window to another, for example, to repeat a command that you entered previously in that session. You can use cut and paste to copy or move text or command lines from one window to another. You can also use this technique to delete text from one part of your file in an editing session and move it to another file.
The following list shows the steps required to copy a command line from one window to another:
You can now press Return to issue the command in the new window.
There are times when you might want to use a combination of the MouseKeys feature and the mouse itself. Even though you have MouseKeys turned on, all the usual mouse capabilities are still available through the mouse itself.
You might find it easier to use the mouse itself to move the pointer long distances, but prefer to use MouseKeys to perform operations that require dragging, such as selecting command lines or text. Being able to use MouseKeys for double clicking can be helpful for people with hand tremors.
To customize your MouseKeys environment, select the All... or MouseKeys... item from the Adjust menu. The MouseKeys feature has the following option buttons:
The Max speed values refer to how fast the cursor is moving once it has finished accelerating. The speed is measured in pixels per second. (Screen displays on workstations, terminals, and televisions are composed of hundreds or thousands of pixels. Each pixel is a tiny dot that can either be lighted or not depending on the image that is being displayed at a given moment.) Use the slider at the right of the Max speed button to select the speed that the cursor moves when you are using MouseKeys.
The slider values range from 10 pixels/sec to 1000 pixels/sec. Use MB1 or the arrow keys to move the slider from the lowest value on the left to the higher values on the right. If you find the cursor is moving too fast, you can reduce this value.
Use this setting to determine how long it takes for the cursor to reach its maximum speed. The choices are from zero to four seconds. Use MB1 or the arrow keys to move the slider from 0 seconds on the left towards 4 seconds on the right. You might want to start with 2 seconds and later change the setting if you find the acceleration time is too long or too short.
Use this setting to determine how long before the pointer begins to accelerate.
The ToggleKeys feature causes the workstation to beep when a light on the keyboard is turned on or off. Some keyboards or workstation monitors have lights that indicate when this key has been pressed. However, not all systems are equipped with such indicator lights. In addition, some users might not be able to see whether the lights are on or off. With the ToggleKeys feature set, the workstation provides an audible signal each time the Shift Lock key is pressed
With ToggleKeys turned on, when you press the Shift Lock key to turn on its function, the workstation produces a low-pitched beep followed by a high-pitched beep. When you press the Shift Lock key to turn its function off, the workstation produces a high-pitched beep followed by a low-pitched beep.
When the ToggleKeys feature is turned on, the workstation will beep regardless of whether you have selected the "Beep on feature use" item in the AccessX dialog box. That setting applies only to the workstation signal that sounds when the feature itself is turned on or off.
The ToggleKeys feature has no special settings, so there is no box for it in the Adjust... dialog box.
You can turn on the ToggleKeys feature at any time while you are using your workstation. You must use the AccessX dialog box to turn ToggleKeys on or off.
The RepeatKeys feature lets you adjust how fast the auto-repeat mechanism works for your keyboard. On most keyboards, when you press a key and hold it down, the computer continues to input the character until you release the key. If you find that keys are repeating when you only intended to input one character, you can adjust the auto-repeat mechanism so that it does not take effect until the key is held down for a longer period of time.
You can turn on the RepeatKeys feature at any time while you are using your workstation with the AccessX dialog box.
To customize your RepeatKeys environment, select the All... or Keyboard Response... item from the Adjust menu. The RepeatKeys feature has the following option buttons:
The repeat rate determines the speed at which a key will repeat when you continue to hold it down after it has repeated once. The higher the number you select, the slower the key will repeat. Use the slider at the right of the Repeat rate button to select the repeat speed you want.
The slider values range from 0.01 sec/key to 10 sec/key. The slower values are toward the right; the faster values are toward the left.
You use this setting to adjust the time you have to hold down a key before it repeats. Use the slider at the right of the Repeat delay button to select the amount of delay time you want.
The slider values range from one tenth (0.01) of a second to a full four seconds (4). The faster (shorter) delay times are toward the left; the slower (longer) delay times are toward the right.
The SlowKeys feature lets you adjust the length of time a key must be held down before the computer accepts the signal as input. If you find yourself accidentally brushing keys when moving about the keyboard or pressing keys when your hands are only resting on them, you might want to turn on the SlowKeys feature. With SlowKeys in effect, lightly pressing or brushing a key will not cause that character to be treated as input by the computer. You must hold a key down continuously for a set amount of time before the computer processes the input.
You can turn on the SlowKeys feature at any time while you are using your workstation. Use either the AccessX dialog box or your keyboard to turn SlowKeys on or off.
To turn on the SlowKeys feature from your keyboard, press the right Shift key and hold it down for about 8 seconds. After 4 seconds, you will hear three short beeps. This is a warning signal in case you had not intended to press the Shift key. Ignore this warning and hold the key down for approximately 4 more seconds until the computer signals with a low-pitched beep followed by a high-pitched beep. (You can reset AccessX to suppress these audible signals by turning off the "Beep on feature use" button in the AccessX dialog box.)
You turn off SlowKeys the same way that you turn it on, that is, by pressing the right Shift key for 8 seconds. Again, after 4 seconds, you will hear three short beeps. Ignore this warning and hold the key down for approximately 4 more seconds until the computer signals with a high-pitched beep followed by a low-pitched beep, unless you have customized your environment to turn off that sound.
To customize your SlowKeys environment, select the All... or Keyboard Response... item from the Adjust menu. The SlowKeys feature has the following option buttons:
You can choose to have your workstation produce a beep when you press a key, when that key is accepted, or both. To have your workstation beep when a key is pressed, click on the push button preceding the word "pressed". Click on the push button preceding the word "accepted" to have the workstation beep whenever it processes a keystroke. You can have both buttons pushed in to have the workstation beep when you press the key and again when that key has been accepted as input.
Key delay determines how long you have to press a key before the computer accepts that keystroke as input. Use the slider at the right of the Key delay button to change the length of the delay time.
The slider values range from a tenth of a second (0.1) to a four second delay (4.0). The shorter delay times are toward the left; the longer delay times are toward the right.
The BounceKeys feature lets you adjust the length of time the computer waits between the time you first press a key and when you press it again before accepting the second keystroke as input. With this feature in effect, the computer ignores a second pressing of a key that can occur when your hand accidentally bounces off a key that you have just pressed. To have the computer accept your pressing a key for the second time, you need to let some time elapse before you press the key again.
The BounceKeys time lapse only applies to pressing the same key a second time. The setting has no effect on how fast the computer processes input when you press one key and then a different key.
You can turn on the BounceKeys feature at any time while you are using your workstation. You must use the AccessX dialog box to turn on BounceKeys. You also use the AccessX dialog box to turn off BounceKeys.
To customize your BounceKeys environment, select the All... or Keyboard Response... item from the Adjust menu. The BounceKeys feature has the following option button:
The Debounce time is the length of time you must wait before pressing the same key a second time to have the computer accept both keystrokes as input. Use the slider at the right of the Debounce time button to change the delay time that you must wait to press a key a second time.
The slider values range from a tenth of a second (0.1) to four seconds (4.0). The shorter times are toward the left; the longer times are toward the right.
The Optacon II, a product of TeleSensory Corporation, is an optical-to-tactile conversion device meant to assist the blind in accessing visual information. The
optacon
utility was made specifically to allow blind users to use an Optacon II to have more access to an X Window System display. The
optacon
utility does so by mapping the pixels surrounding the on-screen pointer to the pins on the Optacon II. All black pixels will cause the associated Optacon
II pins to vibrate, and all other pixels will cause the associated
Optacon II pins to remain still.
To use the Optacon II utility, you can enter
optacon
at the keyboard or select Optacon from the Applications menu in the Session Manager menu bar. For further information, see the
optacon(1X)
reference page.
Puff, developed at the Army High Performance Computing Research Center, provides text and graphics magnification for sight impaired users.
You can invoke the Puff utility by entering the
puff
command or from the Applications menu in the session Manager if the menu was customized to include Puff.
Figure 10-10
shows a Puff window magnifying the area around the pointer.
![[Figure]](FIGU_008.GIF)
For further information, see the
puff(1X)
reference page.
The
xsoundsentry
utility provides visual indications of bell events that occur in the X server. These bell events result from calls to XBell. (See
XBell(3X11)).
This utility is useful for people with hearing disabilities and well as those who work in noisy environments. For further information, see the
xsoundsentry(1X)
reference page.