Tools for mouse clicks on Windows computers

NickDev

Do you use, and if so what, any software or hardware to make mouseclicks easier? Like a special Joystick? Are there any software for Windows PC that can you can control with voice or??

The reason I'm asking is because I'm unfamiliar with such tools. I also have a game that is completely sound controlled but you need to start it from the desktop with a mouse click just like any other Windows program but it would be good if one could make it completely sound controlled or at least start it in an easier way. (So some users don't need to always rely on parents or caregivers.) 

Ross_Alumni

Hello @NickDev

Welcome to the community, good to see you join us. 

Firstly, can I ask if you are able to use a keyboard? You mentioned finding it difficult to click a mouse during your post but I'm curious how accessible you find the keyboard, because a lot of actions can be performed through that rather than the mouse.

Voice control on Windows machines is a thing, although it's not as fleshed out as a feature as you would hope, but it should be able to do tasks like launch apps and games. You can read this guide on how to use a Windows 10 PC with your voice,  and you can also find a guide here from Microsoft about using voice recognition in Windows.

Windows has a number of in-built accessiblity features, often called "Ease of Access" features. That section of the settings menu has a section dedicated to the mouse, so you might find some settings in there that would help you. You can view a guide here on the Microsoft website that explains some of the features Windows offers. 

There are devices out there that can be used to replace the mouse, however I'm not sure where the best place to go is to find those kinds of devices. Have you been in contact with Ability Net about your difficulties using a mouse? They have a number of helpful pages on their website, not least this one about mouse and keyboard alternatives and adaptations. You can find contact details for AbilityNet by following this link.

NickDev

Thanks for your detailed answer. Really useful links for me to better understand. I don't have trouble using mouse or keyboard myself but as a developer I generally want to try to make apps/games as easy to use as possible. Not only for disabled but for elderly or people who have no computer knowledge. And for this particular game I've been working on I was curious if even people without ability to press buttons at all could have a chance to start it without help. (Because once the game has started there is no need to press buttons.)

I tried the Windows Speech Recognition now. It was quite hilarious, maybe it was my accent, maybe it was my dog mumbling in the background, but pros and cons, it can work but it can also suddenly open up apps and sites on the internet that you did not intend to open! (A bit dangerous...)

The Speech Recognition can be set to run at startup. It is only avilable in a few languages but you can add English to your PC to use it.

I actually managed to open my app at the end but my success ratio for now is about 1/70. Then another problem arised, one must remember to tell the speech recognition to stop listen or it will open some crazy pages, cause in the game the point is to  create all kinds of sound and vocalizations, this did not go well with the speech rec... Conclusion, there are a lot of things you could develop in this area to make it easier to start apps.