Using your mouse….

Left Mouse or Right Mouse    

 

LEFT MOUSE OR RIGHT MOUSE!                            

The mouse is usually comprised of two buttons: LEFT or primary button and a RIGHT or secondary button.       Note:  The primary and secondary buttons can be switched around for Left-Handed use (how this can be achieved is shown at the end of this article).

Most devices will also have a wheel between the two buttons which enables scrolling negating the need to use the vertical scroll bar.       Note:  The scrolling function can be modified to suit usage (either by number of lines or by one screen at a time).

When you move the mouse, a pointer called mouse pointer moves on the screen in line with the direction of the hand movement.  Note:  The pointer will change depending on what is currently happening, some examples of pointer shapes are shown below:

                                                

 

Moving the Mouse

To move the mouse pointer simply drag the mouse with a hand movement in the direction of the point that you want to access on the screen making sure that you DO NOT touch the mouse buttons.

Click

Clicking is the term used when pressing down on one of the mouse buttons to either select an object on the screen or access an available menu. To do this, first we need to make the pointer point to that object and then press the left button once and release the button immediately.

Double-Click

Double-clicking is the term used for pressing the LEFT (primary) button twice in quick succession and is used to start an application.  Note: Some users may find that they will need to practice the ‘double-click’ until they can master the action.

Click and Drag

The click and drag, that is – click the LEFT mouse button and hold it down while you move the mouse to a different spot is used for different functions in different applications but is used primarily to move text or objects from one location to a different location.

An example being: to highlight a word or string of words and move the highlighted text to a different location within the text area.

Right Click

The right click is the term used when pressing the RIGHT (secondary) button, and is used to invoke the applicable actions at that point of the application.

Changing Mouse Buttons for LEFT HAND Use

As the mouse is usually set up for right-handed use, it is uncomfortable when used by LEFT-handed people, so why NOT change the mouse button orientation to suit left-handed use, that is – the RIGHT mouse button becomes the primary button and the LEFT mouse button becomes the secondary button.

changing mouse buttons for LEFT-hand use

Step 1:

Click      then select the           option.

 

Step 2:

Click the                   ‘Mouse’ option.

 

Step 3:

  Click the ‘Switch primary and secondary buttons’ check-box to change the mouse buttons for left-hand use                   

 

and you will note that the primary button will be changed as follows: