Ease of Access Options in Windows 10

Ease of Access in software is something that is becoming more and more common. Companies are doing their best to make their products easier to use for everyone, even those with some sort of physical disability or ailment. However, many don’t even think about their operating system itself having some of these very features. Read below for some of the best Windows 10 Ease of Access features.

Enlarge Text Size

Anyone can attest to the fact that trying to read small text for long periods of time can cause eye strain and headaches. Now, think about how much worse that would be if you already have a hard time seeing. Thankfully, Windows 10 allows you to increase the size of text which makes everything much easier to see and read. To increase the text size, go to:

Start
Settings
Ease of Access
Display
Adjust the slider under “Make Text Bigger” until the text size is where you want it

If just increasing the text size is not enough, you can also increase the size of everything by selecting a new option under “Make Everything Bigger”.

Use Your Device Without Needing to See the Screen

Windows has many programs with options to interact with them without even needing to see the screen. However, the built in, and perhaps best, one is Narrator. This is a program that can provide detailed descriptions of pictures, read menus aloud, and do much more. This makes it possible for someone who is unable to see the screen to navigate around their computer and even browse the web.
To enable Narrator, simply press the Windows Key + the Ctrl Key + the Enter Key and Narrator will automatically be enabled.

Make it Easier to Distinguish Between Colors

Some people can have a hard time distinguishing between colors due to either color blindness or just general photosensitivity. Thankfully, Windows has options to counteract this. Windows achieves this by allowing for different “Color Filters”. To enable color filters, go to:

Start
Settings
Ease of Access
Select “Color Filter” on the left-hand side

Once there, you will see options for turning the entire screen greyscale, inverting the colors, enabling filters for specific color blindness’s, or a combination. You must first enable color filters and then you can select which one suits you best and even allow a shortcut key to enable/disable the filter from anywhere.

Magnify Entire Parts of the Screen

There are sometimes when you simply want or need to enlarge a certain portion of the screen. You can use the built in magnifier in Windows 10 to do just that.
To enable the magnifier, simply press the Windows Key and the “+” key at the same time. This will enable the magnifier. From here, you can drag your mouse around the screen to see different parts of the screen magnified. You can also press the Windows Key and “+” again to zoom in more. Or, press the Windows Key and the “-” key to zoom out. You can zoom back out until you are no longer zoomed in or click the “X” button on the magnifier window to disable the magnifier.

Use The Onscreen Keyboard

For various reasons, some people might find it easier to use an onscreen keyboard in certain situations. To bring up the onscreen keyboard, simply search “keyboard” in the search window at the bottom of the screen. That will bring up a link to open the onscreen keyboard. From there, you can click the link to open the keyboard. Or, you can right-click the link and then click “Pin to Taskbar”. This will pin the keyboard to the taskbar at the bottom of your screen and allow you to click it anytime to open the onscreen keyboard. This method is very useful because it allows you to open the onscreen keyboard without first needing to use a real keyboard.

Ease of Access Overview

There are many ways to make your computer easier to use if you need to. You can also use closed captions and video alerts for audio notifications, if you have struggles hearing. Overall, you can make using a computer much more tailored to your needs with many built-in options.