amercer@desire.wright.edu (Art Mercer) (07/13/90)
Index Number: 9102 Heading a computer center in a University with a large disabled population, I'm always on the lookout for products that will increase accessibility for all our students. I just came across the following software product for the Amiga system and thought others may be interested. While the following announcement talks only about using a joystick, the program's author tells me it will work with any "key-switching" device that emulates the joystick's signals. ---- Commercial product announcement follows.. Hit exit to avoid. New Product Announcement Integral Systems Co. is pleased to announce the release of a new product, called KeyWhiz, which will make the Amiga fully accessible to handicapped people. The American Disability Act of 1990 requires, among other things, that all agencies and companies that receive federal funds must make computing facilities accessible to handicapped people. The Amiga computer is uniquely able to take advantage of this requirement due to its flexible multitasking arrchitecture. KeyWhiz provides a mechanism for generating keyboard inputs to any Amiga application - using only a joystick connected to the second gameport. With KeyWhiz, it is not necessary to have a keyboard connected to the Amiga. As shown in the actual screenshot below [omitted for obvious reasons], KeyWhiz opens a window on any Amiga high resolution screen, thus providing a virtual keyboard. One of these is the "hot key", and hitting the joystick firebutton will cause this key to be sent to the currently active window just as if the key had been pressed on the keyboard. The hot may be moved from character to character on the keyboard by using the directional controls of the joystick. In this fashion, a handicapped individual who cannot use a normal keyboard may enter keyboard input into any Amiga application that uses a high resolution screen, presuming that individual is able to use a joy- stick. KeyWhiz starts from Workbench, and may be configured to "follow" the user from screen to screen, if those screens are 640 pixels or more in width. KeyWhiz fully conforms to the Amiga multitasking standard and will cooperate with any other properly developed Amiga programs. KeyWhiz supports all Amiga keys, and through the use of a "qualifier accumulator" feature, enables a handicapped person to select multiple key qualifieers (such as ctrl, alt, left Amiga, Right Amiga, and shift) before sending the key command to the system. Using KeyWhiz, a handicapped individual may enerate reports using a wordprocessor, analyze data using a spreadsheet, coordinate data using a database, or program using and editor and the CLI. KeyWhiz is a trademark of Integral Systems Co. KeyWhiz _c_ 1990 by James R. Locker. All rights reserved. KeyWhiz $40.00 US. Universities and government institutions call for special pricing. Integral Systems P.O. Box 31626 Dayton, Oh 45431 (513) 237-8920 ------------------------------------- Art Mercer Associate Director, Academic Computing Resources 040T Library Annex Wright State University Col. Glenn HWY Dayton, OH 45435 EMail: amercer@eve.wright.edu <or> amercer@wsu.bitnet PHONE: (513)873-4038 ---