To this day, I don't know what it was meant for
To this day, I don't know what it was meant for
91 comments
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It allows users to press keys like Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or the Windows key one at a time, rather than holding them down while pressing another key.
And here is my obligatory; “just use linux”.
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Also if you keep pressing shift repeatedly after the sticky keys window appears, it will eventually disappear and disable the prompt alltoghether.
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Or just turn the setting off when it appears the first time?
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People with disabilities exist, and they use computers too.
EDIT: love the unimaginative and annoying replies that rather than use their brain and contribute would instead throw insults. A person with low hand dexterity, like for instance people with paralysis, upper limb amputees of all kinds and people who use computers alternatively, like with their feet, or alternative keyboards and hardware adapters can initiate common key chords with this feature. For instance, common ones like
ctrl+cctrl+v, by pressing the key five times, then the letters. It is stopped by pressing the sticky key again. It's a good basic feature that enabled the use of computers for people who are usually ignored and undervalued by the tech industry. If you are a person with a disability you're likely to already know this while ignorant ableists, as in this meme, usually act as if it is some kind of alien function. It is not, people had to fight tooth and nail to get even this basic shit out the OS back in the day.EDIT2: How about we all learn something new and interesting together instead of fighting.
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Wow, imagine being this condescending and still not explaining anything!
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it lets you mimic holding down multiple buttons at a time while only holding down 1 button. Its primary use case is for people who would struggle holding down multiple buttons at once, as the person you are responding to said.
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Maybe they didn’t explain everything that you wanted to know, but they were not replying to you. They were replying to OP.
OP wondered what Sticky Keys was for, not what it is. The comment answered that it is for anyone who might need it to operate a computer, while highlighting that the needs of that population are often forgotten or ignored.
If you want further clarification you are welcome to ask. You don’t have meet a perceived slight with further condescension.
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Yea that is true, but you're not answering op's question.
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Nobody, anywhere in this thread, said they don't.
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I really think it's less "I don't understand and hate this accessibility feature" than "why is my computer suddenly interrupting what I'm doing to announce a feature I don't need?" The press-5-times thing is the problem. Why would a mobility-limited person even think that was how you turn it on, rather than say... knowing where in the Config panel it is, or turning it on during the computer's initial setup?
Computers also don't default to having a screen reader going, TVs don't usually default to having captions turned on (I'd personally love this being the norm, haha). It's a strange option to suddenly activate due to an arcane key combo. It'd be like turning on the magnifier because you quad-clicked on something.
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Why would a mobility-limited person even think that was how you turn it on?
Because it is a standard PC feature codified by ISO, present in all computers since 1994 that was specifically required by organizations for the rights of people with disabilities who had to fight the tech giants for it based on the direct feedback from people with disabilities, and sometimes was implemented in secrecy by rogue developers who believed on it.
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If you had included the second sentence of your Edit in your first response I don't think you would have received a single downvote.
I left my downvote there because of the second to last sentence of the Edit. Apparently you think everyone should know about every single feature in Windows because it might be there for someone who is disabled, and blame them for not being aware.
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What irks me is that this opinions are always from abled bodied white dudes from The Gamers™ demographic that feel the need to act as if someone having a nice thing that might slightly inconveniences their gaming sesh once is somehow an alien feature meant to hurt them. The absolute lack of empathy is palpable through the screen.
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Sir, this is a meme board. I was on my commute. I have no accountability to randos on the internet.
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I like the noise it makes when you do it.
PS: That's my favorite Spongebob scene. The delivery is great.
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Yeah it's a satisfying sound. I wonder if there's a .mp3 of it somewhere.
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I can hear the little song he was humming before bursting out of there
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It always annoyed me because every month or so, after getting the pop up and disabling it, it would just show up again
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Then you didn't disable it
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yup, all of my windows systems have the settings stayed off over the course of their entire lifetime. People are likely to just be turning off the sticky keys but not the shortcut to toggle it.
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Sticky keys and the windows key I always immediately disable.
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The windows key is so super useful though. Not just for quickly starting or finding shit without using the mouse, but also for moving windows around, maximizing them, making them take up exactly half of your screen, locking your screen, etc.
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I am very confused why anyone would disable the super/command key. Ever since moving to linux its become the most used key on my entire board.
Admittedly i am using a shortcut heavy tillable win manager. Blown away how fun it is to operate a pc keyboard only. (Overspendinging on nice keyboard switches also helps)
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The windows key is the best key for determining whether or not your keyboard disconnected, or if windows itself has locked up.
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I mostly just game on my PC and accidentally pressing the windows key can minimize the game screen.
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The windows key has a lot of uses. I got a keyboard that has a physical toggle to turn the windows key on and off so I can switch between work mode (on) and gaming mode (off) easily.
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I disabled Caps Lock. Some games map stuff to it, or I'd hit it instead of Shift and then when I need to type I'm the shouting moron.
Disabled the fuck out of Caps Lock. Not that hard (for me) to just hold shift if I needed that many caps.
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mapping something in capslock should be a crime
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You guys are missing the true point of sticky keys:
Admin console without admin password.
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care to explain a bit more?
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It's a well known exploit on Windows:
- delete sethc.exe (sticky keys executable) from the system32 directory.
- replace it with a copy of cmd.exe (name it sethc.exe)
- reboot to login screen.
- shift 5 times, and you get a command prompt with administrator privileges
Now, you can change all the passwords on the system from the login screen.
Last I checked, it still works, and it's been around since xp days.
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The game is nazi zombies and you are on round 9267
91 comments
Imagine you are disabled and only have the use of one finger.
How do you press "Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V"?
Stickykeys allows you to use your one functioning finger to press Ctrl then release it, then press C and release it, and you'll have done the equivalent of pressing both at the same time.
TIL what sticky keys is used for
yeah, the fact that we all know if it but none of us knew what it did is still kind of a failure. if the pop up defined sticky keys it might actually have seen some use in everyday life. like i might actually start using that when I'm on the phone at work and need to do stuff on the computer at the same time. assuming it's still easily accessible in Windows 11.
I use it to mine continuously in Minecraft without having to hold the mouse button myself.
So a disabled person should be expected to carry a programmable keyboard with them in case they ever encounter a computer in public they want to use? You think a person that has a disability that may only give them one functioning finger should be able to easily plug in a programmable keyboard to a public computer? What if that "one figure functional" isn't even a finger and instead a stick they use with their mouth to type? How easy will it be for them to plug in a custom keyboard they carry?
Should a wheelchair bound disabled person also be expected to carry a wheelchair ramp in case there isn't one installed on a building where they might need to enter?
WHICH individual key sequences? The point of building this into the OS is that any application developer can write an application and know that the operator has full use of the keyboard. If the application developer includes some non-standard multi-key keystroke, the OS can still handle it for the operator with Stickykeys. What you're suggesting is that the disabled person be burdened with programming in each sequence custom in their own keyboard.
Why are you advocating that the disabled should be burdened? What is so horrible about Stickykeys to you that the disabled people should have to go without? If it bothers you so much on your PC, why don't you just disable Stickykeys in a Group Policy?
And how would they program that keyboard? Why should they need to buy extra hardware? Instead, it's offered on every copy of Windows, and activated in a standard way that doesn't require multiple simultaneous keys. They can walk up to a library shared computer, or something at work, and start using it.
It's annoying when it gets in the way of gaming, but face it: pressing shift 5 times is not something you do accidentally in most apps outside of gaming.
It helps to know it's there and can be turned on on public computers by pressing shift 5 times.
This might be the better option nowadays, but sticky keys are ancient. I remember them bothering me in windows 98 SE, which probably means they were already a thing in 95.