While I was using my iMac, my cat walked across my keyboard apparently pressing different key combinations. I now notice two obvious differences that I can't figure out how to change. The function keys across the top of the keyboard are not working and a dark black box appears around what I'm using or highlighting. Presently, I have none of the normal sounds (beeps, etc.) If I go to preferences to try to turn sound on, I get the "robot voice" which I don't like. I'm baffled and frustrated. Any ideas about how I can correct this? I hoped it would be "cured" after shutting down overnight. No such luck!
Thanks so much, John. I did correct it but didn't know how to prevent it from happening again. My cat can make my iMac do things that I didn't even know were possible! 🙂
Hi Diane,
I'm guessing that you found things turned on (or off) in Universal Access.
If you open the keyboard/mouse pane in System Preferences, you can disable the Universal Access keyboard shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. This should help you avoid kitty interference in the future.
There are quite a number of posts about a cat
accidentally turning features ON by walking on the keyboard (or sleeping on the warm keys of an open laptop). They must be smarter than we think...
Assuming it was one of the Universal Access features that got turn on with keystrokes, you can disable those keystrokes in System Preferences +Keyboard & Mouse+ pane +Keyboard Shortcuts+ tab. Look under +Universal Access+ on the list and uncheck the checkboxes for the various features.
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Strange happenings after cat walked on keyboard
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