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Input & Output Devices For Handicapped People

The document discusses various input and output devices that can help people with disabilities use computers and other devices. It describes foot mice, eye typers, Braille keyboards and printers, large keyboards, text-to-speech, screen magnifiers, zoom tools, predictive text, and sticky keys software.

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victory Isaac
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12 views

Input & Output Devices For Handicapped People

The document discusses various input and output devices that can help people with disabilities use computers and other devices. It describes foot mice, eye typers, Braille keyboards and printers, large keyboards, text-to-speech, screen magnifiers, zoom tools, predictive text, and sticky keys software.

Uploaded by

victory Isaac
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INPUT and OUTPUT DEVICES FOR HANDICAPPED PEOPLE

Some people are not able to use the 'standard' devices that are used in our every-day lives. So,
devices have been specially developed to allow for these differences. Impairments include;

 Visually impaired (partial or total blindness)


 Motor impaired (difficulty in movement)
 Auditory impaired (difficulty in hearing)

 Some disabilities mean that the input devices themselves need to be placed at convenient
locations for the person. For example mounted on a wheel-chair.

FOOT MOUSE

A foot mouse / control can be used by a person who has limited or no use of their hands or arms.

The foot mouse can be used to navigate through software programs and select things in much the
same way as a conventional mouse. Most foot mice consist of two segments. One segment will
be used to control the cursor, the second segment is used to click the mouse or to select shortcuts.

Most foot mice include straps that help to hold the device in place on the foot during use. A long
cable runs from the mouse and plugs into the computer via a USB port.

EYE TYPER

This can be used by people who cannot use a hand or foot operated mouse and a conventional
keyboard.

A camera is mounted onto the computer and it is set to focus on the user's eye. The camera
determines where the user is looking and monitors movements made by the eye. Mouse clicks
are done with a slow eye blink.

BRAILLE KEYBOARD AND PRINTER

Braille is a writing system for blind and visually impaired people. It is made up of raised dots
that can be 'read' by touch.

Braille keyboard

A Braille keyboard is a specialist input device that allows the user to type and enter text or
instructions for the computer in Braille.

The image on the left shows a Bluetooth powered Braille keyboard that can connect to a
computer, smartphone or tablet (if they are Bluetooth enabled). The device on the right is also

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Bluetooth enabled and can link to access packages such Mobile Speak, Talks and modern
operating systems.

Braille display

A braille display is a piece of equipment that connects to the computer. It reads the screen text
and presents it to the user via a refreshable Braille display.

Braille printer (Braille embosser)

A Braille printer operates by embossing raised braille dots onto braille paper. Pins are pressed
into one side of the paper in order to create raised dots on the other side of the paper.

Large key colour-coded keyboard

Provides large keys for better viewing and the colour coding helps the user to easily find vowels,
consonants,

Speakers and microphones

Speakers

Speakers can be useful for visually impaired people in terms of text-to-speech systems.

The text-to-speech system takes in text as input and then outputs speech to a set of speakers.

There are a number of text to speech software programs that enable any text on the screen to be
selected with the keyboard or mouse. It is then spoken back to the user in a computer generated
voice.

The computer generated voice can sound disjointed and sometimes pronunciation can make the
output difficult to understand.

Microphone

A microphone can be useful for people who find it difficult to use a keyboard or mouse.

The person speaks their input clearly and specialist software is then used to convert the speech or
commands into text or other actions.

Screen magnifier (hardware)

Another option that can be used to help people with visual impairment is a hardware screen
magnifier. The one shown above can magnify the video feed from a standard display and can
also magnify paper documents placed below the video camera input.

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SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS FOR HANDICAPPED PEOPLE

Zoom tool (software)

Many software applications have the facility to allow you to zoom in closer on the work being
displayed on the screen.

Typically, you can choose to zoom in at different magnifications from 100% to around 500%.

This can be useful for people with poor eyesight. There are also specific commercial
applications that are designed to help with visual impairment.

Tablet computers also allow you to magnify part of the screen with a certain gesture of the
fingers (the specific gesture needed varies on the tablet computer brand).

Predictive text (software)

This is an input technology which is most commonly found on mobile phones and tablet
computers.

The technology allows words to be entered by a single or a few key presses. Instead of having to
type out the whole word, the software tries to predict the most likely word that you want.

Predictive text allows you to type faster and also to reduce the number of keystrokes or key
presses that you make, thus helping people who have difficulties in typing. It can be very
frustrating though when it keeps predicting the wrong word, o it is useful to know how to switch
it off on the device you are using.

Sticky Keys (software)

Sticky keys is a feature available with most computers.

It is an accessibility feature to aid users who have physical disabilities.

Sticky keys allows the user to press a 'modifier' key such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt and have it remain
active until another key is pressed.

When sticky keys is activated in Windows, a beep is sounded whenever the Shift, Ctrl or Alt
keys are pressed.

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