wtm@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Bill McGarry) (05/21/91)
Archive-name: unix/terminal/reactive-keyboard/1991-05-15
Archive-directory: fsa.cpsc.ucalgary.ca:/pub/the.reactive.keyboard/ [136.159.2.1]
Original-posting-by: decvax!bunker!wtm@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Bill McGarry)
Original-subject: Handicap Digest # 2001 (Reactive Keyboard)
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)
THE HANDICAP DIGEST
Issue # 2001
Tuesday, May 14, 1991
Today's Topics:
RE: SUMMARY: One handed computing (mainly UNIX) for disabled person?
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Subject: RE: SUMMARY: One handed computing (mainly UNIX) for disabled person?
From: darragh@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (John Darragh)
I've been typing with one hand for 11 years and have looked at several options.
The best by far is a PCD Maltron one-handed ergonomic keyboard from England.
The keyboard and parallel/serial convertor are about $600. I've used one for
years to access Unix hosts using a simple T cable that splices it into my
terminal's serial line. This works great. (Anyone know of a good RS-232 to
Apple Data Bus convertor so I can use it with my MAC? I know about T-TAM.)
This is a full ascii keyboard which places several keys under the thumb.
I made a minor modification to the keyboard to accomodate two foot switches
to make it faster and easier to select the shift, numeric, and control keys.
I am sure that the Maltron people would install the jacks for you when you
order, then all you'd need to do is buy the switches and you're in business.
It's much better than any of the chorded keyboards out there, and it's easy
to learn. The number to call is (UK) 01-398-3265 or write:
PCD Maltron Ltd., 15, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey, England KT8 0BN
There are also specialized typing methods that use standard keyboards which
no one has mentioned yet. Any good Occupational Therapy department should
be able to help. I have photocopies of parts of two books from a local OT
dept. which gave special techniques for all possible permutations of fingers.
One of the greatest helps for one-handed typing is my predictive program
called The Reactive Keyboard which does a lot of typing for you (see Darragh
et al., IEEE Computer, Nov. 1990). You can get it via anonymous ftp from
fsa.cpsc.ucalgary.ca (136.159.2.1). The shared and compressed Unix source
code is in pub/the.reactive.keyboard/unix. There is also a scaled down
version for the IBM-PC and a demo version for the MAC, both in source and
object form. They are in /pc and /mac respectively.
The Reactive Keyboard is really helpful for anyone with difficulty typing.
Several people with C.P., spinal cord injuries and neuromuscular disorders
use RK-unix and rave about it. If you are impaired in any way, and are using
or have tried RK, please send me some email and let me know what you think.
For the curious, check the April issue of Interacting with Computers for a
paper describing our predictive system in more detail than the IEEE paper.
There is also a new book about it in press called, what else? "The Reactive
Keyboard." It's being published by Cambridge University Press as part
of their human computer interface series.
I trust this is helpful.
John darragh@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
[remainder of digest deleted. --Ed]
-- comp.archives file verification
fsa.cpsc.ucalgary.ca
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 647 512 Feb 7 09:56 mac
-rw-r--r-- 1 647 4278 Nov 23 23:36 README
drwxr-xr-x 2 647 512 Nov 23 23:33 unix
drwxr-xr-x 2 647 512 Nov 16 1990 pc
found reactive-keyboard ok
fsa.cpsc.ucalgary.ca:/pub/the.reactive.keyboard/