ICT Hardware & Software for the Disabled, Non-access to ICT.

Devices
Physical problems may prevent many people from using a keyboard or handheld mouse and a number of special devices have been developed to meet their needs.

Head Tracker
With head movements, the person can position the cursor on screen and left and right mouse clicks can be made with a suckpuff switch. Using a virtual keyboard on screen, the user can carry out text entry. To allow the disabled person to move around freely, communication between the head tracker and the computer is normally carried out via a wire-less infra-red transmitter and receiver.

Foot mouse
All the normal mouse operations can be carried out with a foot-mouse. The device is also helpful to those who have temporary hand problems through, for example, repetitive strain injury (RSI). RSI can result from overuse of the handheld mouse.

Braille display
This uses screen reading software to display text in Braille form, writing which can be read by touch. The display uses a set of pins for each character position. There are usually 40 or 80 character positions to represent a single line of text. Each pin in the set can rise or fall so the pattern of pins can be made to represent characters in a line of text on the screen.

The main features of a Braille display.

Screen reader
This a program which uses speech synthesis to speak what it reads from the screen. In this way an e-book could be read to a blind person. A simple version of a screen reader can be found in the Windows O/S called Narrator. This program speaks menu commands as the mouse pointer is moved over them and text as it is typed.

Screen keyboard
If you find it difficult to use a keyboard, perhaps because of arthritis, the onscreen keyboard provided with the Windows operating system allows keyboard entry via the mouse. You simply use the mouse to click the keys shown on the screen. The basic screen keyboard provided with the Windows operating system is shown in the next Figure.

Windows O/S on screen keyboard.

Screen magnifier
This software allows a partially sighted person to enlarge areas of the screen or the entire screen. The software is also useful for anyone who is suffering from eyestrain. The school has a program called SuperNova. The Windows operating system includes a basic magnifier, and the next Figure shows the different options that are available when using it.

Speech recognition
Speech recognition software is useful for anyone who wants to save on keyboard work, but it is also suitable for people who do not have full use of their hands. With speech recognition systems, you speak into a microphone and special software converts your words into commands for controlling hardware or software.

Brain switch
A brain switch allows a severely disabled person to control on/off devices, for example, light switches, a heating switch or other environmental controls. The switch is operated by measuring the biosignals through a contact on the forehead. The user can be taught to operate the switch by state of mind - a calm, quiet state leaves the switch off and an active, excited state switches it on.