Using FilterKeys in Windows 95

• What can FilterKeys do?
• FilterKeys settings:
  • Keyboard shortcut
  • Ignore repeated keystrokes
  • Ignore quick keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate
    • RepeatKeys
    • SlowKeys
  • Beep when keys pressed or accepted
  • Show FilterKeys status on screen
• Setting Up FilterKeys
  • Alter the ignore repeated keystrokes settings
  • Alter the ignore quick keystrokes settings

What can FilterKeys do?

The FilterKeys feature is for people who may frequently hit keys accidentally. When FilterKeys is turned on, the computer will ignore quick or repeated key strokes. You can also change settings controlling the repeat rate, which is the way a key continues to register if you hold down the key.

FilterKeys Settings

The following options are available with FilterKeys. Any of them can be enabled or disabled without affecting the basic use of FilterKeys.

Keyboard shortcut

When the keyboard shortcut is turned on, you can activate FilterKeys by holding down the right SHIFT key for eight seconds and then releasing it. This enables you to turn FilterKeys on without going to the Control Panel.

If this settting is specified and you hold the right SHIFT key for at least eight seconds and then release it, you will see a dialog box informing you that you have typed in the FilterKeys shortcut. (Note: unlike the ToggleKeys feature, the dialog box for FilterKeys will not appear until you release the SHIFT key.) From the dialog box you can choose "OK" to turn FilterKeys on or "Cancel" to keep typing without FilterKeys. You can also change the other FilterKeys settings by choosing "Settings" or pressing "S", which brings up the Control Panel dialog for all of the Accessibility Properties.

Ignore repeated keystrokes

This is one of the two main features of FilterKeys. If you select this option, FilterKeys will not register the same key twice in a row unless you pause a specified amount of time between key presses. When you activate this feature, you will have to enter a Settings dialog box to set the amount of time you want between valid presses of the same key. You may choose from 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 seconds. Note that this feature affects only multiple instances of the same key; you can press two different keys with less than the specified time lag and they will both be processed as usual.

NOTE: Ignore repeated keystrokes and Ignore quick keystrokes are mutually exclusive. You must choose one, but you can not choose both. Ignore repeated keystrokes is the less restrictive of the two options.

Ignore quick keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate

This is one of the two main features of FilterKeys. When you activate this feature, you will have to enter a Settings dialog box to set the options for RepeatKeys and SlowKeys. After you change the values, you have a chance to type in a test area to see how your choices have affected the keyboard response. You can keep changing the settings and typing in the test area until you are satisfied with the way your keyboard is responding.

NOTE: Ignore quick keystrokes and Ignore repeated keystrokes are mutually exclusive. You must choose one, but you can not choose both. Ignore quick keystrokes is the more restrictive of the two options.

RepeatKeys

In normal keyboard use, holding down a key causes a repeat effect. If you want to type a row of fifty exclamation points, you do not need to hit the key fifty times. Instead, you press down on the key and hold it. Initially, only one exclamation point appears. However, once you hold the key long enough, exclamation points begin appearing one after the other until you release the key. RepeatKeys offers two ways to modify this behavior.

1. You may choose not to have any keyboard repeats at all. If you select this option and want to type fifty exclamation points, you will have to hit the key fifty times.
2. You may choose to slow down the keyboard repeat rates. There are two times to set here. One is the amount of time you want to hold the key before it begins to repeat. This is called the repeat delay, and can be set to 0.3, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 seconds. You may also change how fast you want the key to repeat. In our example, this corresponds to how often you want to see another exclamation point once the key has started repeating. This number is called the repeat rate, and can be set to 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 seconds. Though they have many of the same possible values, the repeat delay and repeat rate are set independently.

SlowKeys

This feature controls how long you must hold the key down before the keyboard will register a key press. You may choose from 0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.4, and 2.0 seconds. Choosing 0.0 seconds is essentially the same as not using the SlowKeys option; all key presses will be registered.

Beep when keys pressed or accepted

This option causes the computer to make a sound when you press a key, and when a key press is accepted. The sound corresponding to a key press is short. The sound when a key press is accepted is longer. You can test the sounds by turning this feature on and typing in the test area.

Show FilterKeys status on screen

When this option is selected, the FilterKeys icon will show up in the lower right corner of your computer screen (in the control bar that contains the time and other system information). When FilterKeys is turned off, the icon will disappear.

The FilterKeys icon looks like a little stopwatch: Unlike the StickyKeys icon, it does not give any information about the status of FilterKeys.

Setting Up FilterKeys

1. Bring up the Accessibility Properties window. The Keyboard tab will be on top. FilterKeys is the middle option as shown below:
   
   
2. If the focus (the highlighted or outlined portion of the screen) is on the Keyboard label at the top of the screen, press TAB. If the focus is anywhere else, press f to bring the focus to the "Use FilterKeys" checkbox. (In the picture above, the focus is on the "Use StickyKeys" checkbox. This is the default focus when the box is first opened.)
3. If the "Use FilterKeys" checkbox is not checked, press f. This turns on FilterKeys.
4. To change the FilterKeys settings, press e to bring up the "Settings for FilterKeys" dialog box shown below:
   
   NOTE: Many of the settings toggle. This means that if they are on and you select them, they turn off. If they are off and you select them, they turn on. A feature can be toggled by pressing the underlined letter in its description. For example, to check or uncheck the box labelled "Use Shortcut", press u.
5. To allow the keyboard shortcut (or turn off that feature if it is on), press u.
6. To ignore repeated keystrokes, press o and then press s to alter the ignore repeated keystrokes settings. Note that you can not both ignore repeated keystrokes and ignore quick keystrokes. You must choose one option or the other.
7. To ignore quick keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate, press n and then press e to alter the ignore quick keystrokes settings. Note that you can not both ignore repeated keystrokes and ignore quick keystrokes. You must choose one option or the other.
8. To hear a beep when keys are pressed or accepted (or turn off that feature if it is on), press b.
9. To show the FilterKeys status on the screen (or turn off that feature if it is on), press h.
10. To test the settings, press c to move the focus to the test area. Type here to try out your new FilterKeys settings. If you don't like any of them, go back and change them the same way you did the first time.
11. When all of the settings are the way you want them, press ENTER to return to the Accessibility Properties window.
12. If you want to test your FilterKeys settings without closing the Accessibility Properties window, either hit ALT+A or hit TAB eight times, until the focus is on the "Apply" button, and then press ENTER. This allows you to test your FilterKey settings and change them if needed without having to reopen all of the windows. To close the Accessibility Properties window, hit ENTER again.
13. If you want to save the settings and close the Accessibility Properties window at the same time, hit TAB six times, until the focus is on the "OK" button, and then press ENTER. This will close the Accessibility Properties window.
14. Hit ALT+F+C to close the Control Panel window if it is still open.

Alter the ignore repeated keystrokes settings

1. When you get to this step, you should see the window shown below:
   
   Press ALT+i to get the focus on the slider bar. (You can tell an item has the focus when there is a dotted rectangle around it.) Use the right and left arrow keys to move the arrow on the slider bar. The numerical value in the box will update automatically.
2. Type ALT+t to move the cursor into the test area. Practice typing with the new settings. If you do not like them, repeat the first two steps until you are happy with the results.
3. Press ENTER to return to the Settings for FilterKeys window.
4. Continue with step #8 above.

Alter the ignore quick keystrokes settings

1. When you get to this step, you should see the window shown below:
   
   If you want to turn off the keyboard repeat, press n and continue with step #3 below.
2. If you want to slow down the keyboard repeat, press s. To alter the repeat delay, press d and then use the right and left arrow keys to move the arrow on the slider bar. The numerical value in the box will update automatically. To change the repeat rate, press r and then use the right and left arrow keys to move the arrow on the slider bar. The numerical value in the box will update automatically.
3. Press k to set SlowKeys. Use the right and left arrow keys to adjust the value. The arrow on the slider bar will move and the numerical value in the box will update automatically.
4. Type ALT+t to move the cursor into the test area. Practice typing with the new settings. If you do not like them, repeat the first three steps until you are happy with the results.
5. Press ENTER to return to the Settings for FilterKeys window.
6. Continue with step #8 above.

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