Memory is a entertaining thing. We all remember crucial items such as pay day, our birthday and with any luck our anniversary. These are things that are important to us so we remember them. The same is not true of the majority of keyboard shortcuts in the software we use.
Some of the benefits of employing shortcut are:
1. Fewer frustration with a program.
2. Less mistakes and error to correct.
3. Fewer times grabbing the mouse.
4. Increasing productivity.
Yes, we remember the shortcuts that are common to all applications such as Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+O for open and Ctrl+S for save. But what is the shortcut to add a hyperlink in Word? What can be frustrating is that there are no shortcuts to many of the functions in Word. Functions like the paragraph dialog necessitates using the mouse or remembering the Alt+O+P series.
This is where an overlay keyboard becomes helpful. All the keys on an overlay keyboard can be configured to replicate any series of keys from a standard computer keyboard. Naturally this includes all shortcut keys in a program.
Simply press the correct key and the shortcut will be triggered. By assigning a key to the sequence Ctrl+K the hyperlink dialog box will appear. Configure another key to Shift+F1 and the reveal format window will appear.
With an overlay keyboard we have the capacity to build our own shortcuts. In Word there is no shortcut for the Save As function. A user must either grasp the mouse click on File and then on Save As or press the keys Alt+F+A. With an overlay keyboard just assign a key to reproduce the Alt+F+A series and you have created your own shortcut.
While I have used Word as an illustration in this paper an overlay keyboard can be used with any software. Applications that are industry standards to specifically written programs to even Windows itself can be made simplier to use. (Don't forget the Mac OS and its programs.)
With an overlay keyboard the user's time at the computer is made more productive. They are free to concentrate on their job and not how to run the application. The user does not have to twist their hands into awkward positions to activate shortcut keys.
Some of the benefits of employing shortcut are:
1. Fewer frustration with a program.
2. Less mistakes and error to correct.
3. Fewer times grabbing the mouse.
4. Increasing productivity.
Yes, we remember the shortcuts that are common to all applications such as Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+O for open and Ctrl+S for save. But what is the shortcut to add a hyperlink in Word? What can be frustrating is that there are no shortcuts to many of the functions in Word. Functions like the paragraph dialog necessitates using the mouse or remembering the Alt+O+P series.
This is where an overlay keyboard becomes helpful. All the keys on an overlay keyboard can be configured to replicate any series of keys from a standard computer keyboard. Naturally this includes all shortcut keys in a program.
Simply press the correct key and the shortcut will be triggered. By assigning a key to the sequence Ctrl+K the hyperlink dialog box will appear. Configure another key to Shift+F1 and the reveal format window will appear.
With an overlay keyboard we have the capacity to build our own shortcuts. In Word there is no shortcut for the Save As function. A user must either grasp the mouse click on File and then on Save As or press the keys Alt+F+A. With an overlay keyboard just assign a key to reproduce the Alt+F+A series and you have created your own shortcut.
While I have used Word as an illustration in this paper an overlay keyboard can be used with any software. Applications that are industry standards to specifically written programs to even Windows itself can be made simplier to use. (Don't forget the Mac OS and its programs.)
With an overlay keyboard the user's time at the computer is made more productive. They are free to concentrate on their job and not how to run the application. The user does not have to twist their hands into awkward positions to activate shortcut keys.
About the Author:
Visit the exciting world of overlay keyboards and find out more concerning a few of their uses at Phil's website.. This article, Overlay Keyboards And Personalized Program Shortcuts is released under a creative commons attribution license.
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