Adaptive Technologies that Improve Computer Accessibility

Introduction to Adaptive Technology

Different Forms of Adaptive Technology

• Speech-to-Text

• Speech to text, sometimes called speech recognition, is a software that takes audio content and transcribes it into written words in a word processor or another display destination.(2)
  Speech to text is very useful for people with disabilities, like visual impairment, that make it difficult for them to use a keyboard or for people with dyslexia. To use speech to text effectively it is important to pronounce words clearly and correctly as the speech to text software may comprehend it wrong, this can be an issue for people who have speech impediments. Another thing to be aware of when using speech to text is that you have to say the punctuation too, for example when you want to put a period at the end of a sentence you need to say "period". It is important to be aware that speech to text is not always perfect but is a very valuable piece of assistive technology for many people.(3)


• Text-to-Speech

• Text to speech, often abbreviated as TTS, is a program that converts any digital text into spoken voice output. It works with nearly every digital device (such as smartphones, computers, tablets, etc.) and almost every document could be read aloud including, word documents, online web pages, etc. The voice that reads text is computer generated and can vary in quality, as well as most often the voice can be sped up or slowed down. Some of the voices can sound very human-like and can have many different accents. (4) TTS systems were initially developed to aid the visually impaired by using a computer-generated spoken voice that can "read" text to the user. (5)

• Adaptive Mouse

• There are many different types of adaptive mice. The most popular one is an oversized trackball mouse. Many people without a disability use this type of mouse because they prefer it to a standard mouse. The mouse is easier to use for a person with a motor disability, because it is relatively easy to manipulate a trackball with special devices made for people who have limited or no use of their arms. Someone with tremors in their hands may also find this kind of mouse useful because once the person moves the mouse cursor to the right location, there is less danger of accidentally moving the cursor while trying to click on the mouse button.(6)




• Font Control

• Font control is a control that consists of many different functions and buttons, all of which are used to select a specific font property or formatting option. In the font control there is a wide range of font properties such as typeface name (for example, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial, etc.), style, text size, and effects (7) Font control is a vital piece of adaptive technology that is used to make text clearer and more visible. This is especially useful for people with visual impairments as you are able to increase the text size. Font control is not only used by people with a disability but also the average person uses it when writing almost everything on word, google docs, and other types of writing softwares.




• Ergonomic Keyboard

• An ergonomic keyboard is a keyboard that is designed to minimize muscle strain and many other related problems. By turning your wrist inward to fit a flat keyboard, you are increasing the risk of getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome starts to develop because the wrists are kept in an unnatural position throughout the entire day. Most people spend a lot of time at the computer, making using an ergonomic keyboard very important (8). There are a few different types of ergonomic keyboards, the split keyboard is one of the most popular. It has keys that are separated into two to three groups which allow the user to type at a different angle. The next keyboard is the handheld keyboard. This type of keyboard is unique because it looks like a game controller. It is intended to be used if the user wants to move around, away from the computer. Some handheld computers also have a trackpad so the user can use the mouse and type away from the computer at the same time, on the same device (9). There are also many other types of ergonomic keyboards, all of them with the purpose of improving the users comfort and health.


• Sticky Keys

• Sticky keys is an accessibility feature that causes modifier keys to remain active, even after they have been pressed and released. Sticky keys make it easier to use keyboard shortcuts. An example is, instead of having to press Ctrl+Alt+Del at the same time a user can press Ctrl, then Alt, and then Del, and both methods do the same thing. Sticky keys can be turned on or off in the Ease of access center which is located in the windows settings. You can also enable/disable sticky keys by pressing the shift key five times to open the option(10).
  

Questions

• Why is adaptive technology important?
• Give two examples of to whom font control is useful to and why.
• What is an example of an adaptive technology that is commonly used by people with visual impairment (besides font control)?

Bibliography

1. What is Adaptive Technology? (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://actcenter.missouri.edu/about-the-act-center/what-is-adaptive-technology/
2. What is Speech-to-Text Software? - Definition from Techopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/23767/speech-to-text-software
3. Martin, J. (2019, October 18). Dictation (Speech-to-Text) Technology: What It Is and How It Works. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/dictation-speech-to-text-technology-what-it-is-and-how-it-works
4. What is Text to Speech (TTS)? - Definition from Techopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2020, from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/23843/text-to-speech-tts
5. Beal, V. (n.d.). TTS - text to speech. Retrieved January 24, 2020, from https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/TTS.html
6. Motor DisabilitiesAssistive Technologies. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://webaim.org/articles/motor/assistive
7. Karl-Bridge-Microsoft. (n.d.). Font Control - Win32 apps. Retrieved January 28, 2020, from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/windowsribbon/windowsribbon-controls-fontcontrol
8. Goldtouch. (2020, January 29). What is an Ergonomic Keyboard? Retrieved January 28, 2020, from https://www.goldtouch.com/what-is-an-ergonomic-keyboard/
9. *, N. (2016, October 26). What is an ergonomic keyboard: Types, Benefits, and Risk Factors. Retrieved January 30, 2020, from https://www.bestergonomickeyboards.com/what-is-an-ergonomic-keyboard-types-benefits-and-risk-factors/
10. What is Sticky Keys? (2018, April 1). Retrieved January 30, 2020, from https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/stickyke.htm