When you skip or undo a suggestion, the Keyboard Optimizer will not offer that
suggestion again.
If you choose the 'Start again' button, all changes to the settings will be undone and the
typing analysis restarted.
When you are happy with the current settings, choose 'Finish' (Ctrl-f). If changes have
been made, you will be asked whether those changes should be kept after the Keyboard
Optimizer closes. Choose 'Yes' to keep your new settings, or 'No' to put the keyboard
back to how it was when you started. See the section 'Automatic adjustment' below for
an explanation of the 'Dynamic' option.
Settings the Keyboard Optimizer can adjust
The Keyboard Optimizer focuses on the most common typing difficulties. It may offer
the following:
1.
Change the
key repeat delay
: The key repeat delay is the time between pressing
down a key and when the key starts to repeat. It can be adjusted, or repeats can be
switched off altogether.
2.
Change the
key repeat rate
: This is the speed at which the keys repeat after the
repeat delay time has elapsed. If it is too fast, you will over- or under-shoot when
holding down keys like the arrow keys. To get a recommendation for this feature,
use the arrow keys to get to an earlier point in your typing and insert a word.
3.
Use
Sticky Keys
: If you type with one hand, using Shift, Control and Alt can be
awkward. Sticky Keys, when active, allows you to press these keys
independently of the keys to be modified, instead of having to hold them down.
The model guesses who might like to use Sticky Keys by looking for typical
keystroke patterns that indicate you are having difficulty with modifier keys like
Shift. Sticky Keys will be suggested if your typing demonstration includes several
of these patterns, for example if you use the Caps Lock key to type a single
capital letter, or press Shift and release it and then press it again.
4.
Debounce time
: If you accidentally press each key more than once, a debounce
time could be used to suppress these additional characters, so that only the first
copy of each character appears.
5.
Key acceptance delay
: If you hit many unwanted keys, an acceptance delay
could be helpful. Each key must be pressed down for longer than the delay time
in order to register. You can then slide your hands over as many keys as you like,
so long as you hold down the key you want until it has registered.
6.
Keyguard
: A keyguard is a plastic sheet that fits over a keyboard. It has holes
through which each key is pressed. It can be useful if you type by sliding over the
keyboard, but it can also be useful if you often end up pressing down two or more
keys at once. At present Windows has no built in software solution for this
problem.
