Do You Have A Sticky Keyboard

By Chad Koch, WeCo Accessibility Specialist

Some people have limited use of their hands and have to rely on adaptive technology to help them perform keyboard and mouse tasks.  Living with a motor skill-related disability myself, I rely on technology called “sticky keys” and voice recognition software. I also use typing splints on my hands because I cannot use my fingers. This is where sticky key application helps me maneuver through my computer programs and website. 
Many new computers come with sticky key application automatically installed. There are many different key combinations you can use to help you navigate your programs and website. For example if you use the “Alt Key” when you have a word document open numbers and letters will highlight on the menu bar.  This way you can choose which menu you want to open simple by keying the number or letter.  Another good example for the use of sticky keys is when I want to highlight more than one sentence in a word document.   By holding down the “shift key” along with my arrow keys to highlight as much as I want.  When I am on the internet I will use the “Tab Key” to move to the next navigation title or subtitle.   It helps for me to know what title or menu it is on by a highlighted line around the title or menu.

Along with sticky keys I also use voice recognition software like Dragon Natural speaking by Nuance.   When I started using voice recognition software I thought it was pretty cool it made me feel like I was in Star Trek. Voice-recognition software helps me a lot when I have to a lot of typing.  Like now when I am writing this blog article.  It also helps me browse the internet by saying certain commands.  For example if I say “Go Back” it will go back to the previous webpage.    If you want to learn more about sticky keys, and voice recognition software here are some links to help you.

http://disability.illinois.edu/academic-support/assistive-technology/windows-7-sticky-keys#

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2055599/control-your-pc-with-these-5-speech-recognition-programs.html