Microsoft Magnifier

• Microsoft Magnifier is a display utility which makes the screen more readable for users who have impaired vision. Magnifier creates a separate window that displays a magnified portion of your screen which follows your mouse cursor.
• To access Magnifier go to Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Magnifier. Alternatively, you can press CTRL+Esc, Press R on the keyboard and then type "Magnify" to bring up Magnifier and its settings.
• You can change the Magnification level, in the Magnifier settings box, and even invert the colour of the magnified portion to make it easier to read.
• Once you have changed the settings tick Start Minimized which will minimize the Magnifier Settings next time you use Magnifier.

Microsoft Narrator

• Microsoft Narrator is a
  text-to-speech utility for users who are blind or have impaired vision. Users will need to bring along their own personal head phones to use this software.
• Narrator currently works with Notepad, Wordpad, Outlook Express, Control Panel programs, Internet Explorer and Windows desktop. However, it might not perform well with some other programs eg. Word 2007 and only speaks in English.
• Narrator can read aloud menu commands, dialog box options and typed letters/characters. It can even read an entire page of text by using the CTRL+SHIFT+Spacebar command.
• To access Narrator go to Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Narrator.
• Alternatively, you can press CTRL+Esc, Press R on the keyboard and then type "Narrator". Click Ok, to bring up Narrator and its settings. Modify the settings as required.
• Click on the Voice button to change settings for Speed, Volume and Pitch. Click Ok.
• Once you have changed the settings tick Start Narrator Minimized which will minimize Narrator settings next time you use it.

Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard

• Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard is a utility that displays a virtual keyboard on the screen.
  It also allows users with Mobility impairments to type data using a pointing device.
• To access the On-Screen Keyboard go to Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility,
  On-Screen Keyboard.

• The On-Screen Keyboard has three typing modes to type data.
  To access these click on the menu "Settings":
  
• Clicking Mode:
  Select the Click to Select option which allows you to click the
  on-screen keys to type text.
  
• Scanning Mode:
  Select the "Hover to Select" option. This option will continually scan the keyboard and highlight areas where you can type keyboard characters.
  
• Hovering mode:
  Select the Joystick or Key to Select option which allows you to use a mouse to point to a key for a predefined period of time (up to a maximum of 3 secs) and the selected character is typed automatically.
• Please note: Whilst using Online-Keyboard, if a message appears "Set focus to the application window into which you want to type", you need to click inside the software program you want to type into eg. Wordpad and press F5 to refresh the screen then click back to the Online Keyboard.

• The On-Screen Keyboard also allows you to set the keyboard to different keyboard layouts:
  
• In Enhanced or Standard Keyboard layout (without number pad).
  
• In Regular or Block layout: Regular layout is a standard layout whereas Block layout is where the keys are arranged in rectangular blocks. Block layout is especially useful in scanning mode.