KPR Blog - Page 2 of 4 - Computer accessibility for all

Morse code typing for the iPad

Morse code can be a very effective way to type using only two switches. And now you can use it on an iPad, creating some new possibilities for people who are switch users. This post shows you how to set up and use Morse code on the iPad.

Morse code dates back to the early 1830’s, and has been used in assistive technology since at least the 1970’s to support typing using one or two switches. As switch access methods go, it has the potential to be quite fast– one study measured a Morse code typing speed of 12.4 words/minute for a person with a C2 spinal cord injury, using a sip/puff switch for the dots and dashes. Fast forward to 2019, and Morse code is having a bit of a moment. One question that comes up frequently is whether you can use Morse code to type with switches on an iPad — Yes, you can! Read on to learn how.

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Highlights from the ATIA 2019 Conference – Part 2

The ATIA Conference provides great opportunities for learning, sharing, and networking in assistive technology, and the 2019 conference was no exception. Here’s the second of two posts featuring a few of the highlights.

I was fortunate to attend ATIA’s 2019 Conference recently, held in Orlando, FL, and enjoyed the chance to learn from others and connect with the great folks who work in the assistive technology (AT) field. My first post on ATIA 2019 focused on highlights directly related to mouse access, while this post will highlight some educational sessions that addressed other topics. Keep in mind that with about 400 presentations, 120 exhibitors, and 3000 attendees, this is just one tiny sample representing one person’s ATIA experience. Please share comments about your ATIA experience!

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Highlights from the ATIA 2019 Conference – Part 1

The ATIA Conference provides great opportunities for learning, sharing, and networking in assistive technology, and the 2019 edition was no exception. Here’s the first of two posts featuring a few of the highlights.

I was fortunate to attend the ATIA 2019 Conference recently, held in Orlando, FL. Yes, it was nice to escape Michigan’s polar vortex and subzero temperatures, but even nicer was the chance to learn from others and connect with the great folks who work in the AT field.

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KPR highlights for 2018

2018 was an unusual, fun, and interesting year for Koester Performance Research. Here are some highlights of KPR’s work in the past year.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! In the spirit of a new year’s energy, I took a look at KPR’s activities in the past year. 2018 was unusual, in that we’ve intentionally not been engaged in a large funded project, in order to leave some space and see what might take shape. One overarching goal this year was to share more of what we’ve learned and developed with the wider world. To that end, we revamped the KPR website, incorporated a blog, and set up new systems for communicating with people who are interested in what we’re doing. It’s still a work in progress, but has been enjoyable and seems useful so far. We also continued research, development, and service work within assistive technology. Read on for a few specific highlights.

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Which hands-free mouse is right for you?

Once you’ve identified a few hands-free mice that seem to meet your needs, how do you find the one that is the best fit?

Here’s the third in our series on hands-free mice. We’ve looked at 13 considerations for choosing a hands-free mouse, then examined detailed features of 25 available hands-free mice. All that information is useful for narrowing down the choices and identifying a few candidates that might meet your needs. In this post, we look at how to find the “right” solution from among those candidate devices. To support an evidence-based decision, we’ll show you some tools that help collect and organize data while trialling different hands-free mice.

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Your Guide to 25 Hands-free Mice

There are dozens of hands-free mice that are designed for computer users with physical disabilities. This guide presents 6 families and 25 different hands-free mice to help you find those that meet your needs.

Why Hands-free Mice?

A hands-free mouse allows you to perform computer mouse functions without using your hands. If you have a physical limitation that makes it difficult or impossible to use a traditional mouse with your hands, a hands-free mouse can be critical to accessing a computer comfortably and efficiently. The key is to make an informed choice to make sure your hands-free mouse truly meets your needs. In our last post, we described 13 considerations to think about when choosing a hands-free mouse. Here, we examine 25 specific hands-free mice that are available and see how they stack up on those considerations.

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13 considerations for choosing a hands-free mouse

A hands-free mouse can be a great option for computer users with physical disabilities. Here are some key issues to consider when choosing a hands-free mouse.

What is a hands-free mouse?

A hands-free mouse is a system that allows full control of computer mouse functions without use of the hands. This post was inspired by a question to the QIAT listserv, asking about mouse emulators that could be used by a high school student with quadriplegia. You might benefit from a hands-free mouse if you, like this student, have little to no functional movement of your hands or fingers. You might also benefit from a hands-free mouse if you need to avoid using a regular mouse due to repetitive stress injury or pain, or if you are in a hands-busy environment where your hands just aren’t that available to use a regular mouse.

By choosing the hands-free mouse that best meets your needs, you can have an efficient and comfortable way to control the mouse without using your hands. Read on for some key considerations that will help you make a good choice.

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Better mouse control with Pointing Wizard

Here’s a quick example of how Pointing Wizard helped Linda use her mouse with greater ease and speed. View her mouse control before and after using Pointing Wizard to customize her mouse settings to her specific needs.

Meet Linda

Linda’s story demonstrates that a simple change to a user’s computer setup can make a big difference. Linda is a woman who had a brain injury a number of years ago. The injury left her with significant physical difficulties in walking, speaking, and using her hands. She uses a Windows computer for all kinds of tasks, with the typical keyboard and mouse.

Although Linda uses a standard mouse, it’s not easy for her, as she often overshoots the target, and bounces back and forth a few times before settling on the button or field that she’s trying to click. Read on to see how KPR’s Pointing Wizard software made it much easier and faster for Linda to control her mouse.

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Web accessibility: challenges with third-party code

Using third-party code, such as Bootstrap, Google Charts, shopping carts, and the like, to boost your website’s functionality is powerful and often necessary. But it can also introduce some accessibility problems, and those aren’t always easy to fix. Here are some tips on dealing with these issues.

This is the third in our series on testing and improving the accessibility of KPR’s websites. Previous posts focused on how we conducted systematic do-it-yourself accessibility testing and how we fixed the accessibility problems we found. Some of the toughest challenges involved dealing with third-party code. This post presents the main problems related to third-party code and gives some details about how we fixed them.

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Web accessibility testing: what we found and how we fixed it

We recently tested the accessibility of KPR’s websites. Here’s an overview of what we found and how we fixed it. Spoiler alert: tests revealed some major web accessibility issues.

We’ve been working on testing and improving the accessibility of KPR’s websites. The first step in this process was conducting systematic do-it-yourself accessibility testing, which we described in an earlier post. This post presents the main problems revealed by the tests and gives some details about how we fixed them.

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