How to use the on-screen Accessibility Keyboard in macOS 12 Monterey

7. Select the General tab.

8. By default, the keyboard uses a Dark colour scheme – white letters and icons on black keys. To use the Light scheme (black letters and icons on light-grey keys), select the drop-down menu for Appearance and select Light.

9. The keyboard fades out after fifteen seconds on inactively. You can change the length of time before the keyboard fades out and how transparent it becomes. Alternatively, if you want the keyboard to remain on-screen, untick the checkbox for Fade panel after activity.

10. A sound is played when a key is pressed and when an action is performed. To turn sounds off, untick the checkbox for Play sounds for keys and dwell actions.

11. By default, characters are entered, and actions are performed, on “mouse down” (pressed). To change this to “mouse up” (released), select the drop-down menu for Keys should be entered on and choose Mouse up. 

12. By default, the Accessibility Keyboard will insert or remove spaces for you based on the context of what you are writing. For instance, it will enter a space after a full stop. To turn this off, untick the checkbox for Insert and remove spaces automatically.

13. By default, the Accessibility Keyboard will capitalise words for you based on the context of what you are writing. For instance, it will capitalise the next word after a full stop. To turn this off, untick the checkbox for Capitalise sentences automatically.

14. When you are happy with your settings, close System Preferences by clicking the Close button (red circle) in the top-left corner of the window or using the Cmd + W keyboard shortcut.

15. You can type on the accessibility keyboard with a mouse or trackpad or using an adaptive switch. If you are using eye or head-tracking hardware you can dwell (rest the pointer) on keys to make selections.

As your type, a wide selection of words will appear in the auto-suggestion row. Select any of these words to insert them into the text you are writing.

In order to perform keyboard shortcuts using the Accessibility Keyboard, you will first need to enable Sticky Keys. Sticky Keys allows you to perform shortcuts by pressing the keys one after the other rather than pressing them all at the same time. For more information on using Sticky Keys, see our article How to make keyboard shortcuts easier to perform in macOS 12 Monterey.

16. Panels are customisable collections of buttons that perform various tasks on your computer, such as entering pre-written text, opening apps, running shortcuts, or performing advanced mouse actions. For more information on creating your panels, see our guide How to create panels to use with Switch Control and the Accessibility Keyboard in macOS 12 Monterey.

17. With Dwell, you can perform mouse actions, such as left-clicks, by resting (dwelling) the pointer on items on the screen For more information on using Dwell, see out guide How to use Dwell with the on-screen Accessibility Keyboard in macOS 12 Monterey.

18. You can assign actions to each corner of the screen, such as temporarily switching to a different Dwell action or hiding the Accessibility Keyboard. Resting the mouse on a corner triggers the action. For more information on using Hot Corners, see out guide How to use Hot Corners with the on-screen Accessibility Keyboard in macOS 12 Monterey.

Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings are managed by someone else (an IT department or administrator for example). If so, you will need to contact them to access these settings or for help.