Whenever my daughter wants something she just says “papa can you get ‘whatever she wants‘ for me in the box”. The box she is referring to is the box in which UPS delivers the goodies and she is asking me to order it online. This gives an idea that how important computer access is for me.

My hands are so weak that it is impossible for me to use a regular keyboard and mouse/trackpad. As a result of this weakness I have to use a switch to access the computer. A switch is small device that sends a signal when activated. There is wide range of switches to choose from, and the one I use is called a bean switch. It just needs a light touch to activate. The switch is connected to a usb device called a switch interface. A switch interface is designed to convert the signal from the switch and send it as a mouse click to the computer. Switch interface can generally emulate key press or a mouse click or a joystick. And again there is a wide range to choose from. I am currently using a switch interface called Swifty.

On the software side I use a scanning program called SwitchXS. SwitchXS is activated when I press the switch and with few presses it allows me to do anything on the computer. I am also using a predictive typing software called KeyStrokes to help with typing. This screen shot will give you an idea about how it works.

The way scanning works is: the first switch press activates SwitchXS which in turn starts scanning a panel. I then press again when the scanning line highlights the row which has the function I want to use. SwitchXS then starts scanning the row and I press again when it highlights the button for the function I want.

To a regular computer user this might sound slow and tiring but the fact is that it is not and with some clever scan panel design I can do things faster and easily. I have designed two scan panels to make my life easier. here is one for general computer use.

This is the one I use for typing.

When time to use a speech program comes, I simply need to add a text to voice software to the mix making my Mac a full-fledged AAC. And in future if my current switch does not work for me any more than all I need to do is get a different type of switch that will work!

As part of preparing for future, I started exploring software and hardware solutions which can help me to use a computer after my hands give up. There are various tracking devices (mouse alternatives) available in the market. The one I’m looking at is a headmouse variety. You control the mouse pointer by moving you head. One of such devices is SmartNav from NaturalPoint. It costs $499 and provides basic mouse pointer functionality. There are two other brands (you can see them here), but they are way expensive.

So headmouse takes care of moving the mouse pointer, but what about clicking? It turns out there are both hardware & software based solutions for it. The software solution is called dwell clicking and the software ‘sends’ a preset click if you dwell over a region (like icon) for an adjustable time (like 1 sec). These software range from $99 to $199. You can see them here. There is a free version as well. It’s called Point-N-Click. The hardware solutions are called ‘switches’. You can connect the switch to your computer and it can then ‘send’ the click when you press it. Again have a look at them here. Prices for switches range from $30 to over hundred.

How about typing? Well there is a software for it too. It’s called On-Screen-Keyboard (OSK). You can see comprehensive list of such software here. Over last couple of days I have looked at each one of them and haven’t found one which I like. The one that comes close to my liking is be-Key. All of them are costly, they start around $199 and can go anywhere up to $500. I think these OSKs are just priced too high and don’t provide functionality that measures for the price charged. I mean you can buy a operating system for $199, but if you want to buy an OSK then be prepared to shell out lot of cash. If you are interested in writing a functional OSK, then let me know, I’m all for it. There is a free version as well, it’s called Click-N-Type. Bottom line: pay lot of money to just be able to type one or two words per minute. 

Over the past weekend I moved away from Mac to Windows. I have a MacBook, which now proudly runs Windows Vista Ultimate. There are many reasons for switching to Windows, but I won’t list them here.

Any site that asks you to login, does provide a way for you to logout as well. I have found that it’s easy to find the login button because the login page is at times very simple. But how about logout? I am always frustrated to find the logout link after I login. Below are some examples of my frustration. Notice how some sites have different words for this link, ex: logout, log off, sign out… Because of different wordings, it’s hard to find it and over that each site has their own style, making the link’s position, look and feel different. I don’t blame the site developers for this, as they are developing the site in their own silos. But can there be a W3C guideline for placing the logout link/button always on the top right making it easier for site users to find it?

I will be traveling to Hawaii in October. During this trip one of the places I want to visit is the Polynesian Cultural Center. So as geek traveler, I did my duty and pointed my browser to their site. While I was shopping around for tickets, I noticed this:

It was just hilarious to see the discount. I don’t know what the site developers were thinking. I my opinion, user interface should be designed with the user at the heart and not the geek. I am pretty sure it doesn’t take more than a function call to round these numbers.