Switch Access

Updated by Mark Welham

These instructions are for our older CD (downloadable) software. Support for this software is limited. Please see Purple Mash support for tools and help related to Purple Mash. Note: many of our older CD software titles share the same name as tools within Purple Mash, our award-winning online educational software that enables enables children to explore and enhance their knowledge in a fun and creative way.

Which 2Simple programs are switch accessible?

The only 2Simple program which is switch accessible is version 1 of the Infant Video Toolkit. This version was developed together with the ACE Centre in Oxford. None of the other 2Simple programs is switch accessible, although to varying degrees they can be controlled using the keyboard (which is a partial step towards switch accessibility). For example:

  • Keyboard shortcuts: Infant Video Toolkit 2, Music Toolkit
    • ctrl + shift + n - new
    • ctrl + shift + s - save
    • ctrl + shift + l - load
    • ctrl + shift + p - print
    • ctrl + shift + x - exit
  • Dialog boxes: Dialog boxes on most programs can be controlled using TAB/ arrow keys to switch between yes/no and SPACE/ENTER to make a choice.
  • Music Toolkit
    • Launcher: use TAB to cycle through (in the wrong direction!) and SPACE / ENTER to launch program
    • 2Explore: each of the 6 notes can be played using keys F1 - F6 or different areas of the keyboard
    • 2Beat - keys 1,2,3,4 play the percussion instruments
    • 2Play, 2Synthesise - the top row (qwerty) and the numbered keys can be used to play the keyboard
  • Maths Games
    • Each program has a help window (“?” button) which shows which keys can be used. P can be used
      to pause in each game.
    • Launcher: cycle through the programs using TAB and select with SPACE or ENTER
    • Factoroids: Keys 2-9 to shoot a factor, left and right arrow keys to turn, space bar to move forward.
    • Dividers: Left and right arrow keys, space bar to fire.
    • Fracwall: Left, right and down arrow keys.
    • Bond Bubbles: Left and right arrow keys, space bar to fire.
    • SeqSnake: All 4 arrow keys
    • Funky Platform: Left and right arrow keys, space bar to jump.
  • 2Calculate
    • You can navigate within the spreadsheet area using the arrow keys, and add basic mathematical
      expressions using the number keys and operators + - x / =. Other keyboard functions that can be
      used: ctrl-c, ctrl-v, ctrl-x, ctrl-a.
  • 2Control NXT: You can partially control the “NXT Robot” section using TAB/arrow keys to navigate between the
  • direction and distance buttons, and ENTER to choose.
  • Talking Stories: Choose a story using TAB and ENTER. Within a story, turn pages using TAB/arrow keys to navigate
    between the buttons, and ENTER/SPACE to choose.
  • 2DIY: You can control some parts of 2DIY swf files using your keyboard, such as :
    • Drag, Multi Drag, Shapes, Sound Drag, Placing:
      • up / down arrow keys - make selected object larger or smaller
      • left / right arrow keys - rotate selected object
      • U / D / L / R keys - move object around on screen without using the mouse
      • T / W keys - make selected object wider or thinner
    • You can select objects using the mouse. You can also select objects using tab/arrow keys and
      enter/space, but if you do so you should change the following in the right-click play menu
      _root.allowRotateByKeys=false; _root.allowResizeByKeys=false;
    • In Pairs and the Quizzes you can navigate between cards / questions in using tab, arrow keys
      and enter / space.
    • In the Games you can use the arrow keys to navigate the person across the screen. In the Games, you can also add ActionScript code which gets executed when specific keys are pressed – although this is an advanced option.
  • 2Create a SuperStory
    You can control page turning (or indeed any other aspect of your story) using the keyboard. This can
    be done using ActionScript. For example, add to each frame of the picture timeline "if
    (Key.isDown(13)==true) { _root.showNextPage(); }" This will cause the story to go to the next page
    when the enter key (which has a code of “13”) is pressed. You would need to add a “loop page”
    action on the last frame of the picture timeline otherwise the story would stop responding to the
    enter key after 10 seconds. See the advanced user guide for more information on ActionScript
    coding - http://support.2simpleweb.com/public/docs/userguides/2CASS_UserGuide_Advanced.pdf

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