User Interface

After you have finished Installation and Setup and start Semanux Access for the first time, you will see something like this:

You might wonder why you only see your desktop (the image shows the Windows desktop; it looks slightly different but similar on macOS). Where is the program window for Semanux Access? There isn't one! And that's exactly the idea: With Semanux Access, you control other programs, so Semanux Access itself has no program window.

You can recognize that Semanux Access is running by a few small things:

• Somewhere on your screen, you will likely see a small, colored circle – the so-called Trace. In the image above, you can see the trace in the center of the screen. Depending on the preset you selected, the trace moves as you move your head, let your gaze wander, or move the analog stick on your controller.
• On the right edge, you will see a narrow colored bar, the so-called Panel. If you move the trace to this edge, the panel expands to its full size.
• At the upper edge, slightly to the left, you will see the Pause Button.

These elements are the user interface of Semanux Access or part of it. The user interface is deliberately minimal so that it does not distract you when using your computer.

We explain what each element is for and how you can use them to control your computer and other programs without a mouse and keyboard in the rest of this chapter.

Context Menu of the Taskbar Icon

However, before we get to controlling other programs with Semanux Access, let's start with how Semanux Access itself is operated.

Until you have learned to operate without a mouse and keyboard, it is best to carry out the steps in this section using the mouse, or ask someone to help you who can use the mouse for you.

When you have started Semanux Access, you should find a small Semanux Access icon in the notification area of the taskbar.

By clicking on this taskbar icon of Semanux Access, the context menu opens with the following entries:

1. What's new?
   
   This opens the What's new? window, which notifies you about new features and improvements to the software after an update of Semanux Access.
   
   At the bottom of the window, you will find the checkbox Show this window after an update, allowing you to set whether the window should open automatically after each update.
   
   
2. Redo setup
   
   This opens the automatic Setup Wizard that you used right after installing Semanux Access and allows you to reconfigure Semanux Access (see: First setup).
   
   Reconfiguration may be necessary because your Semanux account login details have changed, or you just want to go through all the basic settings again. Your settings will not be reset immediately. If you carry out a reconfiguration by clicking Next each time, nothing will change in your previous settings.
   
   
3. Play tutorial
   
   This opens the window with the Tutorial. The tutorial helps you learn how to control Semanux Access. You can also play the tutorial just for fun.
   
   
4. Open settings
   
   This opens the window with the Settings of Semanux Access. There you will find everything from inputs and interactions to button colors.
   
   
   Info:

   You will find a few things under Redo setup instead of in the settings: logging into your Semanux account or entering the activation code, our Privacy Policy, the End User License Agreement, and on macOS the access rights release.

   
   
5. Pause now or Resume from pause
   
   This toggles the Pause on or off.
   
   
6. Open help
   
   This opens our Online Help Center.
   
   
7. Quit Access
   
   This closes Semanux Access.
   
   
   Hint:

   You can also close Semanux Access at any time with the key combination Ctrl + Alt + ⇧ Shift + Q on Windows or ⌃ control + ⌥ option + ⇧ shift + Q on macOS, no matter what program you are currently in.

If you just started Semanux Access for the first time, you probably will not need any of these options yet. But just in case, now you know how to open the settings or close Semanux Access.