Vista includes an on-screen keyboard that is built-in with the operating system. You might find this feature handy if you have impairments or if your normal keyboard is under repair. You can easily access the on-screen keyboard by clicking Start, typing OSK, and pressing Enter. A nifty little keyboard will immediately appear on your screen.

You can access this more easily by creating a shortcut to the program on your desktop. Simply right click your desktop, point to New and select Shortcut. Type in osk and click Next. Click Finish.

The on-screen keyboard runs in three different modes: clicking mode, scanning mode, and hovering mode. In clicking mode you simply click the on-screen keys. In scanning mode, you use a hot key or a switch-input device to type highlighted characters. In hovering mode, you can simply use your mouse to point to a key which is then typed. You can change the mode by selecting the Settings tab, clicking Typing Mode and choosing the mode you want to use.