Terry,
I've had to use very light-touch keyboards for years. Whether or not
someone uses voice recognition, it can be important to have a keyboard with
an appropriate level of touch-sensitivity.
I agree with Denis' comment below that it is necessary for the user to do
hands-on trials of different models, in the absence of a standard
measurements and reliable information across different keyboard models on
the pressure required to depress keys, and the pressure of the keys' return.
However, one significant problem with the user-testing approach for
keyboard softness is the toll it takes on the user doing the testing. When
I have to get a new keyboard, I know that testing only a few keyboards will
burn my finger muscles out for the next several days after testing, but
that I may have to test twenty or more keyboards to find one that is soft
enough to type on continually. I've also found that very few people who
don't have muscle weakness can differentiate the softness/stiffness of
keyboards reliably, so it isn't a task that one can easily hand off to
willing friends or colleagues.
Ideally, those of us who need soft keyboards could type on some kind of
device that would dynamically adjust, with fatigue and pain level inputs,
and measure the optimum down-stroke and return-stroke pressure; then go to
a source that provides that data for mainstream and for specialized
keyboards and make a selection; and, if no existing product matched that,
there would be a few shops who could customize even lighter keyboard
pressure for individual customers.
Comments on some different keyboards follow:
For the past several years, I've been using an external keyboard that is...
let's see, the model info is not labelled clearly here... I think it was
sold as a "Windows Coffee Break" (?!) keyboard, model no.: SK2501. (I never
installed the "coffee break" software that came with the keyboard, but they
were inexpensive and I did buy several of them, once I'd found something I
could type on for more than two minutes.)
When traveling I use an old Fujitsu Lifebook 675TX, which also has a very
soft keyboard, and is now discontinued. My understanding was that the
softness of the keyboard made the model less popular with other customers.
This is another problem with looking for soft keyboards among mainstream
hardware; sometimes the softness is a design accident, and not welcomed by
the general user population, and so the model is changed or discontinued --
meaning that there is little continuity with soft keyboards that are
available over time.
I've heard of at least one company (a mainstream hardware developer) which
was interested in learning more about requirements for softer keyboards,
and re-calibrating some of their keyboards to require less pressure. I am
not sure of the status of that right now, but I just put in a phone call to
check, and if it's an ongoing project for them, I'll ask them to post to
this list.
As with Denis' comment below, I've also found that some of the old Mac
keyboards were soft, but with tremendous variation across product models.
The compact fold-out keyboards for PDA's may be relatively soft, but I
haven't tested them for long enough to be sure.
One last thought in terms of keyboard softness for now -- those little
sub-notebook Librettos have a fairly light touch. I was going to re-test
one of those, after my last round of typing on a colleague's Libretto,
which worked relatively well.
Regards,
- Judy
At 12:06 PM 10/24/01 -0700, Richard Jones wrote:
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o =
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w =
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1 =
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags">
>The best resource for accessible software and hardware is the Closing the
>Gap. While they do focus on k-12, the hardware and much of the software
>is the same. No one, and I mean No one, produces as sophisticated and
>useful a printed catalog on adaptive hardware and software as Closing the
>Gap. Their on-line database will also provide basic information for
>reviewing products and contacting vendors.
><http://www.closingthegap.com/rd/index.html>http://www.closingthegap.com/rd/index.html
>
>
>
>Richard R. Jones
>Assistant Director
>Disability Resources for Students
>Arizona State University
>(480) 965-6045
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Denis Anson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 11:51 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Light touch keyboards
>
>Keyboard touch varies a lot between brands, and between runs within a
>brand. The best thing to do is to take the client down to an office
>supply or computer store, and try out after market keyboards, looking for
>a light touch one. Make sure the one in the box has the same feel as the
>one you try, though, because different runs can have different feels.
>
>The best keyboard I ever used was the one on my Apple II+. It had a very
>light, very smooth feel. Other Apple II+s had horrible keyboards. Apple
>IIes ranged from OK to horrible. Even IBM has had keyboard lines that
>were ghastly. Right now, I m typing on a Keytronic keyboard that is very
>smooth and light. But you have to try them to be sure.
>
>Denis Anson, MS, OTR
>Computer Access Specialist
>College Misericordia
>301 Lake St.
>Dallas, PA 18612
>email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>Phone: 570-674-6413
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: * EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Martin, Terry
>Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 4:40 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Light touch keyboards
>
>Does anyone know of a keyboard that has a "light" touch? I had a person
>send me an e-mail asking me that question today. The keyboard that she is
>using is very stiff. It is starting to bother her hands. I am going to
>talk to her about voice recognition as a solution. Thanks.
>_____________________________________________________
>Terry Martin -- President
>VOILA Technology, Inc.
>54 Castle Road
>Rochester, NY 14623
>Phone: (716) 321-1451
>FAX: (716) 334-3971
>Email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>URL: <http://www.mainaccess.com>http://www.mainaccess.com
>____________________________________________________
--
Judy Brewer [log in to unmask] +1.617.258.9741 http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/LCS Room NE43-355, 200 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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