Technology is for everyone. That’s why modern systems come with an array of support features to deliver a better user experience for those with disabilities.

If you or someone at your firm lives with challenges that impact their ability to use their computer — don’t fret. Windows 10 has a number of great accessibility features to improve your experience and workflow.

You can access the full list of support features by going to Settings > Ease of Access. Below, we’ll run through some of the most relevant accessibility features:

Narrator

For the visually impaired, be it blind, colourblind, or low vision, the Narrator feature allows you to have text read back to you. This includes reading out text as you type it, as well as content on websites, in apps, or highlighted selections as needed.

Another handy feature of Narrator is that it reads out notifications and audio cues when you enter applications on your computer. 

Colour Filters

For those with colorblindness, the settings found in the Colour Filters subtab can be extremely useful. If you find it hard to distinguish between colours with the default settings, try out an alternative like “Inverted”.

This option won’t be the answer for everyone, however, so be sure to check out the list to find out which preset works best for you. Microsoft has a handy colour wheel down the bottom of this menu to illustrate which colour scheme sticks out while you test options.

Note: You can toggle the Colour Filter feature on/off with Windows Key + Ctrl + C.

High Contrast

This one will dramatically alter the contrast, making the distinction between different items on-screen much more obvious. This way, it’s easier to read text, images, icons, and application windows, etc.

In the High Contrast subtab, simply toggle the switch on and choose a theme to your liking. If you want to customize things further, you can pick specific colours for different components like Selected Text or Button Text.

Make sure to hit Apply after you’re done to save changes.

Magnifier

Making things more distinct is one thing, but getting up close is another. Toggle the zoom feature on and off as necessary with Windows Key + Plus(+) or Windows Key + Esc.

In the Magnifier subtab, select the Change Zoom Level function to adjust the zooming increment. Once you’re happy, turn on Zoom and use the same shortcut to zoom in (Windows Key + Plus(+)) and Windows Key + Minus(-) to zoom out. Alternatively, hold down Ctrl + Alt and use the wheel on your mouse to zoom in or out.

When zooming in, things tend to get jagged or blurry with images and text, so Windows updated to make things smoother. In the same subtab, there’s a feature titled Smooth Edges of Images and Text. Turn this on to keep things consistently legible even when you zoom in.

Another key feature here is the Lens, which you can find under Choose a View dropdown. This creates a window that follows your mouse pointer and zooms in on whatever you’re focusing on. From the same dropdown, you can select Docked to keep this window up the top of your screen if you prefer.

Text

In Display, there’s a scale you can adjust to make the standard text size on your screen bigger or smaller. You may be tempted to just crank it to the top, but be warned that this might be overkill. Phrases can get cutoff and words get wrapped around, so it may not be ideal. Experiment and find  out what works for you.

Elsewhere in Display, there’s a dropdown that allows you to change the size of apps and their text. Again, a caution with going full on, as important buttons like OK or Save can annoyingly get cutoff.

Other useful features in this subtab include brightness adjustment, turning off transparency and animations, and making sure the scroll bar doesn’t auto-hide when not highlighted.

Mouse Pointer and Text Cursor

Last but not least is the mouse pointer itself. Here, you can change the pointer size and colour to suit your preferences. The inverted feature makes the pointer colour dynamically change to contrast sharply with whatever background it’s against.

Similarly, in Text Cursor, there’s a slider to adjust the size and options for various colours. You can also adjust the thickness of the text cursor to make its location more apparent when working with text.