mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) (03/29/91)
Use an IBM PC as a terminal, and modify the BIOS so that the CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT keys are "sticky" (they toggle on and off rather than having to be depressed simultaneously with another key). There exists a short program which you can run (upon boot-up) to make them work this way. The PC (a laptop, perhaps) could then be a terminal on any other computer. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Michael A. Covington | Artificial Intelligence Programs The University of Georgia | Athens, GA 30602 U.S.A. -------------------------------------------------------
Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM (03/29/91)
Hello. Has anybody got ideas for using mainframe UNIX or computers in general for a disabled person with use of only the right hand? I am thinking of recommending a terminal with two "control" keys (e.g., the Teletype 4425) instead of the usual one. [Turning to editors:] Also making heavy use of GNU Emacs numerical keypad programmability, but then again perhaps running it in VI emulation to avoid the old control-key finger stretch. [Also perhaps having a control key prefix character, just like ESC means "Meta-" ...] The mouse also seems important. Of course there's the possibility of just using plain VI, however I have not met the person yet and am not yet aware of their future customization needs. [also posted to misc.handicap [hopefully]] -- Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM Naperville IL USA +1 708 979 6364
pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) (04/01/91)
In article <DANJ1.91Mar28132419@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: > Hello. Has anybody got ideas for using mainframe UNIX or computers in > general for a disabled person with use of only the right hand? The Apple Macintosh has sticky control key ability built into the OS. One of the terminal packages that I use, VersaTerm Pro, allows you to use the mouse for moving around in vi or EMACS. This requires a modifier key to be held, but with the stickiness, this shouldn't be much of a problem. I remember from the early days of microcomputers, when real programmers used toggle switches and keyboards were outrageously expensive, there was a one-handed ASCII keyboard. It was a sphere with four finger buttons and eight thumb buttons. One was supposed to play a chord with the fingers, giving eight bits, and then press one of the thumb buttons, giving three more. It was attractive to a lot of people because the small number of moving parts made it cheap. You might be able to find one used. It would take a lot of training to use, and it might be very hard to get any amount of speed, but it's worth investigating. I have no connection with any of these manufacturers. Eric Pepke INTERNET: pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Computations Research Institute MFENET: pepke@fsu Florida State University SPAN: scri::pepke Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 BITNET: pepke@fsu Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.