New K3000 Accessibility Feature -- Customize Win. Shortcut Keys

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With so many different accessibility options now ubiquitous – touch, voice, as well as a myriad pointer options – it’s easy to overlook how vitally important keyboard commands are.

Kurzweil recently introduced customizable shortcut keys for the desktop app of K3000 Windows. Reflective of Kurzweil’s practice of constant product improvement, this new feature will be rolled out to web license customers, seamlessly. In fact if you have K3000 web license, you might very well already have it.

Improve efficiency, productivity and accessibility

Keyboard shortcuts improve efficiency and productivity from power users to new users. Whose mental health hasn’t been saved by a well-timed Ctrl+S (save) or Ctrl + Z (undo)?

Often a relatively minor visual or visual-cognitive challenge means that a keyboard can be much easier and efficient way to access features than a mouse.

Plus for many students a “secret” or “power user” shortcut is a great way to establish ownership and confidence in their software.

And for those with more profound physical challenges, keyboard shortcuts are essential for customizing alternative access methods (eg. switch, eye gaze or headpointer users) in software like the Grid 3.

How to Customize your K3000 Shortcut Keys

For a Kurzweil web license user, in your K3000 desktop application go to,

Tools top menu > Options > Key Mapping

Use the drop down on the left to select a key and all functions assigned to it, including key combinations with Ctrl, Alt and Shift.

Use the drop down on the right to select a function and see which key will perform the function.

Select a function from the drop down on the right and see which key will perform the function.

Example:

Below we see that F9 is assigned three functions: cancelling scan, repeating scan and start/stop scan. By selecting each one you will see which exact combination of F9 with Ctrl, Alt and Shift performs the function.

On the left you will see which functions the selected key performs in combination with Ctrl, Alt and Shift

Select each function from the list to see which combination of the key with Ctrl, Alt and Shift performs that function

To change the mapped key, simply pick which key you’d like to use it with, and specify if you want to use it in combination with Ctrl, Alt and/or Shift.

Deleting a function from a key

Select from the left drop-down the key you’d like to update
Select the function you are targeting
Click the Clear button then click Apply

To delete a saved shortcut key, select the key, then select the function and click "Clear"

Steps to deleting a saved shortcut

Deleting functions from keys in K3000 for Windows is particularly useful if your student uses an assistive device (like a switch) that requires a specific key to use with a computer.

Assigning a function to a key

Select the function from the drop down on the right
Choose which key you want mapped (the list on the left will show if there are any functions already assigned to it)
Pick a combination that hasn’t been used and click Update

To save your own shortcut, on the right select which function you want performed, select the key to link it to and if you want it in combination with Ctrl, Alt or Shift and click "Update"

Saving a new shortcut

Note that some functions like F1 for Help cannot be changed, these will have a pound (#) sign next to them.

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