3 Keyboard Key Switch Access

Today, I'm going to model how to do navigate your Chromebook with Switch Access and three keyboard keys.

To enable Switch Access, simply visit the Settings app > Accessibility . Then, scroll down to the ‘Keyboard and text input’ category, and toggle on ‘Switch Access’. Once you do, you’ll want to click ‘Switch Access options’ which appears immediately below and start choosing complete which function.

You’ll actually see a bunch of blue highlights around your screen – don’t freak out as this is normal! Switch Access lets you navigate forward and backward and select highlighted items to execute commands system-wide. Okay, so in the Switch Access options, just dedicate a keypress to ‘Select’, ‘Next’, and ‘Previous’. Press that same key again in order to confirm it. I’ve opted to use ‘Z’ for previous, ‘X’ for select, and ‘C’ for next. For help see video below.

Okay – let’s take this for a test run, shall we? Simply close your settings app, and begin utilizing your new key presses. Use your ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons to jump between on-screen elements and your ‘Select’ button to make things happen. Easy, right? Well, sort of – properly navigating the operating system this way takes a little getting used to, and though you may mess up a few times, it’s actually quite cool when you master it.

As you can see in the video below, selecting things causes a menu to appear which shows contextual options for that item. For example, the volume or brightness has been selected below, and the menu lets the user increase or decrease appropriately, or visit the settings for that feature. 

To disable Switch Access, just visit your Chromebook’s shelf where the quick settings are located, go to the ‘Accessibility’ drop-down, locate ‘Switch Access’, and tap on it. The green checkmark next to it will disappear, and the tool will be disabled.