|
Computer
Access, continued
 Alternate
keyboards. There are a variety of alternate keyboards
that are either smaller or larger than the standard keyboard.
A smaller
one may work for a student with minimal movement, while a larger
one may work if the student has difficulty hitting a small
target. Some of the most common ones are IntelliKeys from Intellitools
(1-800-899-6687, http://www.intellitools.com),
Big Keys from Greystone Digital, Inc. (1-800-249-5397, http://www.bigkeys.com,
TASH mini
keyboard
from TASH International, Inc. (1-800-463-5685, http://www.tashinc.com).
Discover board from Madentec (1-877-632-3682, http://www.madentec.com).
Track
ball or joysticks with on-screen keyboards. For some
students, activating individual keys is not possible even with
alternate
keyboards. In such cases there are software programs that
display a virtual
keyboard on the monitor (thus the name:
on-screen keyboards).
Keys are accessed indirectly by steering the cursor using
a trackball
or mouse, and “struck” by “clicking” the
mouse or trackball key. Steer and click replaces reach and
tap.
For a description
and review of on screen keyboards go to:
http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/reference/tech/onscreen.html.
If there is
reason to believe that an on-screen keyboard may be needed, there
are two products that can be downloaded free.
Click-N-Type is an on-screen virtual keyboard designed for
anyone with a disability
that prevents her/him from typing on a physical computer
keyboard (http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt).
Another is Virtual On-screen keyboard by Milosoft: http://march-of-faces.org/resources/vkt.html.
In
addition,
Windows XP offers a very robust onscreen keyboard built directly
into it.
Commercially
available on-screen keyboards include: On Screen from RJ Cooper
and Associates (800-752-6673, http://www.rjcooper.com);
SofType from Origin Instruments, http://www.orin.com/access/softype;
WiViK from http://www.wivik.com; and REACH Interface Author
from Applied
Human Factors, http://www.ahf-net.com/reach.htm.
|
