By MATP Staff Member M. Catherine McAdam
By the way why do we call that contraption connected to most computers a mouse? Myself and many other computer users who have disabilities use only our key board to communicate with our computers whether windows or MAC.
I was told that back in the day, many administrative assistants and secretaries preferred using keyboard options because it made their work more efficient. Many of these commands are not connected with specialized technology, but are rather part of the operating system or their programs. If you have trouble gripping the mouse, have any spastic responses and or any problem with hand eye coordination the keyboard may also be a benefit. Here are a couple of my favorites to show new users who use Windows. I use them because I have too but you may just choose them once you know what they do:
- Press the Window Logo key and there’s your start menu
- Press the alt key on either side of the space bar and the menu options appear
- Press the application key usually on the right side of the space bar (or shift plus F10) and the choices you see are equivalent to the right click of the mouse.
- And if you use your arrow keys to highlight a choice in any menu you can simply press enter to activate your choice.
If you are a mac, or iPad user you also have many keyboard options.
I know these options won’t be for everyone, but I also know that many of you never even knew these were choices and it’s always good to have options. For more information go to:
- All Hot Keys – lists of keyboard shortcuts for mac and windows
- Shortcut World – more keyboard shortcuts
- Bluetooth keyboard shortcuts helpful with iDevices
What is your favorite keyboard shortcut? Thanks for sharing!!
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