131. Control the Mouse Pointer Using the Keyboard BEFORE YOU BEGIN 130 Use Sticky Keys SEE ALSO 127 Talk to Your Computer and Have It Talk Back to You (VoiceOver) 132 Add a Keyboard Shortcut If you don't have a mouse or have trouble using one, you can set up Mac OS X to let you use the numeric keypad instead to move the onscreen pointer. This feature, called Mouse Keys , lets you navigate up, down, sideways , or diagonally using the number keys and to use the central 5 key to simulate a click. You can opt to turn the Mouse Keys feature on and off by pressing the Option key five times in a row. | 1. | Open the Universal Access Preferences Open the System Preferences application (under the Apple menu); click Universal Access to open the Universal Access Preferences pane. Click the Mouse tab. | | 2. | Enable Mouse Keys Select the Mouse Keys: On radio button to turn on the Mouse Keys feature. This option reassigns the numeric keypad's keys so that they control the mouse pointer's movement. Hold down a number key to move the pointer continuously in one direction; tap the button to move the pointer by a very small increment. Press 5 to click the "mouse." TIP Use the Cursor Size slider to increase the size of the mouse pointer. This can be very helpful if you have difficulty seeing the normal- sized pointer on the screen. 131. Control the Mouse Pointer Using the Keyboard | | 3. | Configure Mouse Movement Delay and Speed You can specify a delay before the system responds to the numeric keys and moves the cursor; this keeps the cursor from moving immediately if you accidentally touch the numeric keypad's keys. Use the To control mouse pointer movement and Maximum speed sliders to specify how long the system should wait between the time you press a keypad button and when the pointer begins to move, and to specify how fast the pointer should move when you press a button. The mouse keys' behavior changes immediately when you adjust the sliders so that you can experiment to find where they're most comfortable for you. | |