Unit 17: Vocabulary

A hardware peripheral designed to 'scan' products into an inventory tracking system.

Harry ran into trouble while taking inventory because he forgot to charge his barcode reader.

To press and release the primary (left-side) mouse button.

The screen prompt read "Click the button to continue."

To press and release the left mouse button twice in quick succession.

The Macintosh user did not know that in order to open a file in Windows you need to double-click it.

A device which forms a digitised image of a human finger print for the purpose of biometric authentication.

The security firm was so tired of people choosing weak passwords that they installed fingerprint readers to increase the security of their systems.

An input device or mouse alternative using a sensitive rectangular surface and a stylus.

The graphic designer sometimes used a graphics tablet in addition to a mouse.

Any peripheral used primarily to enter data into a computer.

The mouse and the keyboard are two examples of common input devices.

An input device with a vertical rod mounted on a base used to control pointing devices or on-screen objects; normally with one or more buttons.

The man used a joystick to control the airplane in the flight simulation.

An input device using a light-sensitive pen shaped handle which can be used to draw on the computer screen.

Before the mouse became available, some older computers used light pens to increase interactivity.

A hardware device plugged into a computer's sound card optimized for voice commands or other audio recording.

The handicapped woman used a microphone to dictate her Word documents instead of typing.

A handheld input device used to move an onscreen pointer by means of sliding on a flat surface.

Before the invention of the mouse, the 'tab key' or 'arrow keys' were often used to navigate the screen.

A special icon (normally an arrow) which indicates the current location of the mouse on the desktop screen.

The mouse pointer changes its shape at times, depending on the application being run and the task being performed.

The ability of a computer to determine standard letters and numbers based on fuzzy logic.

Instead of retyping the stack of documents, the secretary decided to use OCR technology to scan them.

To press the right-side mouse button.

Windows 95 was the first major operating system to popularize the right-click.

The ability of a computer to convert spoken words from a user into usable data.

The new phone system used speech recognition to help reduce the number of customer service representatives.

A part of an input device resembling a pen used to draw on the surface of a graphics tablet.

The man lost his stylus and thus could no longer enter text on his PDA until he replaced it.

An input device consisting of a sensitive rectangular area in which one uses a finger to move a cursor on a display.

Laptops commonly include a built-in touchpad in addition to supporting a mouse.

A display that also acts as an input device by allowing a user to navigate a program by pressing specific locations of the screen.

Most information kiosks in airports make use of touchscreens instead of keyboards or mice.

A pointing device consisting of a ball on top of a base that is rotated to move a cursor on the computer screen.

The injured person used a trackball instead of a mouse to move the cursor.