Dasher – Single Finger Alternative Text Input

A video demo of Dasher. A single finger interface that allows you to enter text without a keyboard. Dasher is free software, and it works in all languages, and on many platforms.   Keyboards are inefficient for two reasons: they do not exploit the redundancy in normal … all » language; and they waste the fine

Ergodex customisable input system now for Mac

Update Jan 2021: Ergodex is now Ergodox When I heard about this Ergodex customisable keyboard on a podcast I immediately thought it would have uses in Assistive Technology circles and yes, they do already have information on such application of the device. As it happens, this device has been around a while but only for

The touch barrier — responses

After my previous post about the “Touch Barrier” as referring to the inherent issues of the pervasive use of touch technologies I had some good responses. @lucychili pointed me to work Peter Hutterer is doing with MPX Laurel wrote a blog post “Disabilities social networks games” pointing to a article DISABLED GAMERS’ COMPRISE 20% OF

Vista Voice Recognition

All throughout my life with technology I’ve used add-on software to help kludge my way around. Macs had accessibility features built right in from the word go – though mouse-drags were problematic. DOS & early Windows required external software to handle mouse-drags until the click-lock functions appeared in XP. It seems given time OS software

Keyboards with large print

“Keys-U-See large print keyboards have been designed specifically for those with conditions that cause visual impairment or low vision. … These large print keyboards are also perfect for those who simply have a hard time seeing the existing commands on thir keyboards. With a bigger and bolder typeface, the keys are easier to see.”

Thunderbird’s QuickText

There’s a great extension for the equally great open source email program, Thunderbird called QuickText. This bit of software is installed in Thunderbird and acts like a macro typing device that can input long pieces of text with few keystrokes or the click of a button. QuickText is especially for email as it can recognize

Colourfull keyboard

These coloured keyboards are aimed at the childrens market. I wonder though if they could be useful for anyone with colour perception issues or who might require some added visual clues to assist with typing. The culours offer great contrast and the grouping of similar function keys by colour could help with association and usability.