Universal Design Icon Using MouseKeys in Windows 95

What can MouseKeys do?

The MouseKeys feature is for people who do not use the mouse to naviagate around the screen and control the mouse pointer. When MouseKeys is turned on, you can perform normal mouse functions using the numeric keypad on the keyboard.

Performing mouse functions with MouseKeys

Move the mouse pointer

All of the numbers on the numeric keypad except for the numbers 0 and 5 can be used to control the mouse pointer.

The direction of the pointer corresponds to the location of the numbers on the keypad, so 2 moves the pointer down, 8 moves it up, 4 moves it to the left, and 6 moves it to the right. The keys 1, 3, 7, and 9 move the mouse pointer diagonally to the lower left, lower right, upper left, and upper right, respectively.

If you hold down any of these keys, the pointer will accelerate until it reaches some top speed, and then continue at that speed until you release the key.

Click the mouse buttons

There are two steps to clicking mouse buttons using the numeric keypad:

  1. Choose a mouse button to click
  2. Click the mouse button

Choose a mouse button to click

The left mouse button is the default. If you have not changed this, you don't need to do anything. If you have changed the active mouse button and you want to go back to left clicking, press the SLASH (/) on the numeric keypad. To activate the right mouse button, press the MINUS (-), and to click both buttons at once, press the ASTERISK (*).

When you select a mouse button, it will remain active until you change it. To see which mouse button is currently active, use the show MouseKeys status setting.

Click the mouse button

The same keys are used to perform a mouse click no matter which mouse button is selected. The number 5 in the center of the numeric keypad corresponds to a single click of the mouse. There are two ways to double click. You can hit the number 5 twice in a row, or just hit the PLUS (+) key once.

Hold and release the mouse buttons

Holding and releasing the mouse buttons allows you to select text, drag and drop objects, and more. You will almost always do this with the left mouse button, so make sure the left mouse button is active. Move the mouse pointer to the desired location and press the INS key on the numeric keypad (which is also the number 0) to hold the mouse button down. Now move the mouse pointer to its desired end location and press the DEL key on the numeric keypad (which is also the PERIOD (.)) to release the mouse button.

MouseKeys Settings

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

Keyboard shortcut

When the keyboard shortcut is turned on, you can activate MouseKeys by pressing LEFT ALT + LEFT SHIFT + NUM LOCK. This enables you to turn MouseKeys on without going to the Control Panel.

If this settting is specified and you hit LEFT ALT + LEFT SHIFT + NUM LOCK, you will see a dialog box informing you that you have typed in the MouseKeys shortcut. From the dialog box you can choose "OK" to turn MouseKeys on or "Cancel" to keep typing without MouseKeys. You can also change the other MouseKeys settings by choosing "Settings" or pressing "S", which brings up the Control Panel dialog for all of the Accessibility Properties.

Top pointer speed

This setting controls how fast the pointer will move when it is under keyboard control. Low corresponds to slow pointer motion, and High corresponds to fast pointer motion. Unfortunately, you can not test this feature, so you may have to set up MouseKeys multiple times in order to get the feel you like. This setting does not affect the functioning of the pointer when the mouse is being used.

Pointer acceleration

This setting controls how long it takes for the pointer to get up to its top speed when it is under keyboard control. When it is set to Slow, it takes the pointer a long time to get up to top speed. When it is set to Fast, the pointer gets up to top speed very quickly. Unfortunately, you can not test this feature, so you may have to set up MouseKeys multiple times in order to get the feel you like. This setting does not affect the functioning of the pointer when the mouse is being used.

Hold down CTRL to speed up and SHIFT to slow down

This option allows you to temporarily override your top pointer speed. If you press CTRL and then press one of the keys which move the pointer, either with or without holding the CTRL key, your pointer will move faster than its set speed. If you press SHIFT and then press one of the keys which move the pointer, either with or without holding the SHIFT key, your pointer will move slower than its set speed. Note that if you press CTRL or SHIFT while you are already moving the pointer, nothing will change. However, if you hold CTRL or SHIFT while moving the pointer, and then release CTRL or SHIFT, your pointer speed will revert to its set value.

Use MouseKeys when NUM LOCK is on/off

This option allows you to use the numeric keypad to control both the mouse pointer and the program cursor. For example, if you select to use MouseKeys when NUM LOCK is on, the numeric keypad will control the mouse pointer as long as NUM LOCK is on. When you turn NUM LOCK off, the MouseKeys feature is temporarily disabled, and the numeric keypad takes over program cursor control. To go back to the mouse pointer, simply turn NUM LOCK on again. Note that you must choose one of these options. MouseKeys works either when NUM LOCK is on or when it is off, but not both.

Show MouseKeys status on screen

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

The MouseKeys icon looks like a little mouse with right and left buttons: MouseKeys status symbol The currently selected button (the left button in this case) is shaded, and turns black when you press the key that performs the mouse button function. If you want to hit the right mouse button and the left mouse button is shaded, you will need to change the current mouse button first.

The MouseKeys icon also responds to changes in the NUM LOCK status. For example, if you set MouseKeys to work only when NUM LOCK is on, and then turn NUM LOCK off, the MouseKeys icon will remain on the screen, but it will be enclosed in a circle with a line through it until you turn NUM LOCK on again.

The MouseKeys icon is a little bit buggy. It may not appear on the screen even if you have selected it. Other times it may appear, but fail to respond to changes in active mouse button or NUM LOCK status.

Setting Up MouseKeys

  1. Bring up the Accessibility Properties window. The Keyboard option will be on top.
  2. If the focus (the highlighted or outlined portion of the screen) is not on the Keyboard label at the top of the screen, press TAB until it is (this should take nine presses) and then use the right arrow key to bring the focus over to the Mouse label. Or, press CTRL+TAB three times, until the Mouse tab comes to the front. At the end of this step, you should see a window like this:
    Accessibility Properties window: Mouse tab
  3. If the "Use MouseKeys" checkbox is not checked, press m. This turns on MouseKeys.
  4. If you want to change any of the settings, press s to bring up the "Settings for MouseKeys" dialog box:
    Settings for MouseKeys window
    It's a good idea to check the settings at this point to make sure they are set the way you want them.
    NOTE: Most 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 change the top pointer speed, press t to move the focus to the slider bar. Use the right and left arrow keys to adjust the value. The arrow on the slider bar will move automatically.
  7. To change the pointer acceleration, press a to move the focus to the slider bar. Use the right and left arrow keys to adjust the value. The arrow on the slider bar will move automatically.
  8. To Hold down CTRL to speed up and SHIFT to slow down (or turn off that feature if it is on), press h.
  9. To use MouseKeys when NUM LOCK is on, press n. To use MouseKeys when NUM LOCK is off, press f. Note that one of these two options must be selected. The default is for MouseKeys to work when NUM LOCK is on.
  10. To show the MouseKeys status on the screen (or turn off that feature if it is on), press s.
  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 MouseKeys settings without closing the Accessibility Properties window, either hit ALT+A or hit TAB three times, until the focus is on the "Apply" button, and then press ENTER. This allows you to test your MouseKey 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 once, 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.

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