Handicap Access/RSI & Linux 67
Why handicap accessibility is important
Microsoft is making a major push in the area of handicap accessibility. They are under tremendous pressure from handicap accessibility advocates and governmental regulators to make their applications handicap friendly. To their credit, they have a far greater range of accessibility aids and adaptability than is currently present in the Linux/X11 environment. Alternative input devices such as tablets, speech recognition, special keyboards are available to users. You can use alternative output devices such as text-to-speech screen readers. Contrast this to the Linux world. While there are a few notable exceptions, Linux is "unfriendly" to people with disabilities.For me, the two most compelling reasons for building handicapped accessibility into any operating system are 1) it's the law and 2) more importantly, it's the right thing to do.
Love it or hate it, the 'Americans with Disabilities Act' is the law. In a nutshell, it requires reasonable accommodation for handicapped people in public buildings and in the workplace. One of the major positive effects of ADA has been the creation of the design concept known as "universal access" or "universal design". The original goal was to create a design philosophy for constructing buildings that would be equally usable by handicapped and non-handicapped people. One of the unexpected side effects was that many of the design features that made it easy for handicapped people also were better for non-handicapped people. The reason for the side effect is that many of the physical tools (kitchen utensils, door knobs, sink faucets, etc.) that we use are kept out of habit and tradition. When examined for usability, better designs become quickly apparent and usually cost no more than the traditional design.
On the negative side, ADA creates liabilities for public and private sector employers. The reason this liability is a particularly insidious is that when it comes to computers, an employer may have no choice but to discriminate on the basis of a handicap because there is no way to accommodate the handicapped user. Employers are damned if they do and damned if they don't. This liability in turn becomes a problem for the operating system manufacturer and the application vendor. Vendors like Sun and Microsoft recognize the liability and have research groups working on addressing the problem.
More importantly, building handicapped accessibility is also the right thing to do. Depending on which statistics you believe, there are between 45 and 54 million disabled Americans. Workplace injuries continue to generate hundreds of thousands disabled people each year. The software development field alone generates some 50,000 handicapped people a year. By the time we reach roughly 60 years of age, about half of us will be disabled as a side effect of living on this planet. Any way you look at it, that's an awful lot of people to exclude from a computer-intensive society.
By not making computers handicapped accessible, you are telling some 20 percent of our population that they cannot hold a high-paying job, get additional education, or take advantage of the benefits of the Internet.
I know of all this first-hand. I was disabled in 1994 because of too many hours at the keyboard. I have recovered from my injury to the point where I can drive a reasonable amount, prepare food, and yes, use a keyboard to some extent. I'm still disabled because there are many things I can't do without causing myself tremendous amount of pain. I have experienced job discrimination and public embarrassment because of my handicap. Yet I've been lucky. I've been able to reinvent myself and develop a work life with computers thanks to speech recognition systems. But far too many of my peers have just fallen off the economic ladder when they became injured/disabled. When talking with them about what's gone wrong and how to fix things, it comes up over and over again that computer handicap accessibility isn't good enough yet for most jobs.
Today, computer handicap accessibility is very primitive. Accessibility efforts have focused on very select communities such as the visually handicapped and the profoundly physically handicapped. Accessibility aids such as screen readers, unicorn sticks, sticky keys, and paddle switchs are useful only if you have no other place to turn. Whenever I read articles or see programs showing some profoundly disabled person laboriously keying in characters so they can send email, I think people are astonished and pleased not because the accessibility aid worked well but because it worked at all!
The closest thing we have to a general accessibility aid for mildly handicapped people is speech recognition, but even that falls short, because it is optimized for a specific task. Speech recognition is tuned beautifully to English language dictation. Try to write code, however, and you'll soon find your throat feeling like you've been gargling broken glass.
When you step back and look at the entire handicap accessibility repertoire, it is apparent that accessibility aids are primarily point solutions that need to be done and redone with every revision of every operating system and application. A case in point is T. V. Raman's Emacspeak work. It's a wonderful example of adapting an application to a specific handicap. It's also a wonderful example of what's wrong with the state of computer handicap accessibility.
Emacspeak works extremely well as a tool for blind users using Emacs. It is extremely flexible, configurable and works with a wide range of Emacs Lisp based applications. The downside is it only works with Emacs and it only works with blind users using text-to-speech. It is a well done single point solution for a very targeted population.
Flaws with current computer handicap accessibility
There are many flaws in the current approaches to handicap accessibility. Some of the major flaws are:- Additional development requirements for application developers
- Narrowly targeted accessibility aids
- No general model for accessibility
- Accessibility aid and application bound together on same machine
Most accessibility aids, by their very nature, are targeted to a specific handicap. For example a unicorn stick does absolutely nothing for a blind user and a screen reader is overkill for a color blind user. Without a general model for accessibility, developers would need to build multiple user interfaces for a given application. It is my believe that a general model for accessibility would allow developers to add handicap accessibility to their applications with little or no effort.
Another flaw in the available computer handicap accessibility tools is that the adaptation and the application are bound together on the same machine. This forces the handicapped user into using a single machine which has been adapted for them. If your job requires you to use multiple machines, then you have to enable every single one of those machines with the same accessibility aids and configuration files and then try to keep those configurations in sync as your use evolves. If your enabled machine fails, you cannot work until the machine is repaired or replaced and all accessibility aids are restored.
With barriers like these, is it any wonder that handicapped people continue to have the double-digit unemployment rates even times like these?
Considerations for handicap accessibility
There are better ways to solve the computer handicap accessibility issue than those provided by current solutions on the marketplace. The general case solution for handicap accessibility is a "hard problem" and I can't do it full justice here in this forum. The only aspect of handicap accessibility that I can speak to is that of a person with sore hands. However, with biases declared and out in the open, I will try to describe some of the requirements for building handicapped accessibility infrastructure.A user should be able to
- Modify or customize the interface to meet their handicap needs and thought processes.
- Create incidental scripts easily to aid in task automation.
- Rely upon applications to have all functionality, data, and state available for query by a common accessibility scripting environment.
- Have the ability to store, retrieve, and act on state and context specific information.
- Count on applications having the capability to invoke actions in the common accessibility scripting environment.
The need for a changeable interface comes from the different characteristics
of each person's handicap. For example, someone using speech recognition
has a different user interface experience from someone using text-to-speech.
Incidental scripts are important because limited mobile or vocal capacity
should be conserved when performing repetitive tasks. The next two
items come out of the need for an accessibility aid to drive an application.
Speech recognition needs to know context in order to improve recognition
accuracy. Text-to-speech needs to be able to find out what's on the screen
and then read that back to the user. Data persistence is important
in order to remember what is valid to hear or say in a given context.
The last item comes from the need of an application to signal a user.
When email arrives, instead of not hearing a voice saying "you've got mail,"
deaf users could have a light flash on their desktops triggered by the
application calling a handicap accessibility script.
A long-term goal for handicap accessibility is to provide enough information so that an agent could explore an application via the interfaces listed above and generate an accessible user interface matching the persons handicap.
Conclusion
Many of these problems became apparent to me from personal experience. There are many others that we could add from the blind, deaf, and severely physically handicapped communities. Once such an accessibility infrastructure is implemented, handicapped users would be empowered to adapt their corner of the online world to their needs. Given the right boot-strapping tools, we can pull ourselves up the rest of the way.I wasn't kidding when I said this was a difficult problem to solve. It will require coordination and communication between multiple project groups. It will cause serious changes to GUI toolkits. Each of the requirements carries potential security risks. But it will provide the means to make a positive change in the lives of millions.
Are you up for it?
Write me at esj@inguide.com
State of Linux GUI Toolkits? (Score:1)
KDE 1.1 might not include a Dvorak layout. If you need one, email me and I'll get one to you.
Ergo Keyboard Replacement. - Quinkey/Microwriter (Score:1)
Either way, I'm interested.
GUIs can be easier to use (Score:1)
Have you ever tried to control a command line interface by speech recognition? It's not easy, and it's very slow as command lines are optimised for minimum keystrokes and are generally totally unpronouncible. GUIs on the other hand can be controlled nearly as fast by speech as with a mouse if the speech recognition system can be made aware of the names of the menus, buttons, tabs and other controls available on the screen. Dragon Dictate managed to find these and add them to the vocabulary dynamically so you could click on items by just saying their name. Where this failed (ActiveX changed the interface) accelerator keys could be used.
My point is that it is not impossible to do, it just needs some thought and standard interfaces.
I used to be unable to type due to RSI, but I found Windows significantly quicker and easier to operate by speech than any command line (and faster than the traditional mouse/keyboard approach for some tasks).
Focus is the key. (Score:1)
Large corporations have a single advantage that the open source model does not have at all. The advantage is that they can quickly focus all development on a single topic. They can also issue and edict to all development teams ordering them to use a single interface in order to focus on an issue such as handicap accessibility.
How do we compete with such resources? We have two options and three outcomes:
1) We hope that everyone else does nothing and also do nothing.
2) We hope that everyone else does nothing, but find out later that they did so and get left in the dust.
3) We do something about the problem, wowing everyone in the world as we do so.
Let's assume #3 is the best answer. To do something about handicap accessibility, we probably need, as suggested in the article, a common messaging interface. This interface would have signals and data output. Based on the handicap settings, either the program would use its own interface to display the data or signal the user, or the handicap facility would do so.
Part of the problem with the current system is that we have condensed output in order to reduce information for the user. In order to solve the handicap issue, programs must give context information that is normally hidden to the user, but is revealed to the handicap facility in order to help presentation.
For instance, a word processor with this functionality would work normally without the handicap facility, but when installed, the word processor would behave differently. It's interface might change, it might read the output and menus, it might use sounds or visual cues to signal users.
What I'm saying is that someone, not me, should design such an interface. It needs to be robust enough to handle things from programming and word processing all the way to reading packets and perhaps even using the Gimp. It would be difficult, but feasible with the right design. Good luck.
-Ben
ps. For speach recognition users, someone might want to invent an easier language to speak than c or c++:
for(int i=0;i10;i++){printf("%d\n",i);}
pps. hmm... a compact phonetic language in place of a compact character language...
Web Accessibility (Score:1)
Also, run the pages by CAST Bobby [cast.org].
It will scan for common accessability problems, point them out, suggest fixes, and give an overall score. Very helpful.
Speech software (Score:1)
emacspeak [cornell.edu] is rather well-regarded (and particularly handy for people that already use the One True Editor [alt.religion.emacs]...). It's more targeted towards people that can't see, although I'm sure it would be useful for people that can't speak as well. There's another stand-alone project, festival [ed.ac.uk], if you don't dig that M-x stuff (what, you don't have pedals on your terminal?).
--
W.A.S.T.E.
The causes of RSI (Score:2)
If you have access to a good newsagent or a University library (or any reasonably sized metropolitan library I suppose) track down their New Scientist collection. There is an article in the 10th of April issue [newscientist.com] covering RSI from a slightly different angle than normal. There's an interesting theory that RSI is not caused by physical damage to the wrists/hands, but rather caused by blurring of the brain's distinctions between the fine motor control areas for the hands.
It seems that when you spend a lot of time moving your fingers in very precise, accurate ways your brain can blur them together: you lose fine control over time. This effect has been shown to take place in monkeys made to earn food by `typing' (aside: presumably they put them on Usenet...), and there seems to be some evidence of it occuring in humans. Particularly susceptible, as you might expect, are keyboard operators and musicians.
There is a tiny tidbit [newscientist.com] from some while ago on the New Scientist web site -- unfortunately they don't appear to have put up the article I'm talking about. If anyone's sufficiently interested I daresay I could type in a couple of short extracts for review.
Here are a couple of links which you might find interesting (tracked down from the broken NS links...):
--
W.A.S.T.E.
As Homer Simpson said (Score:1)
Just typing a long sentance like that makes my wrists hurt.
But seriously, I wonder how many handicapped programmers are out there. Since Linux is (primarily) a project by and for programmers, I think a strong commitment from uhhhmmmm, uh, differently abled programmers is what it would take to make Linux a world class OS in terms of accessibility. After all, people in the OSS community tend to write what they want use, and more importantly, not write what they would never use.
Some links (Score:1)
Blind support and Linux (Score:1)
where I have experience) is falling behind
compared to other developments:
Open source projects are normally done by people
who are interested that this project succeeds.
Users who are blind form a very small sub group of
Linux users. Many of the blind users cannot code.
Without a user base which is big enough,
the development/debug/feed back process doesn't
take off. But who else should have an interest to
write this code than the blind community itself?
And another annotation:
Forget the Linux is so good because it is
command line. theme.
Linux is so good because applications are cleanly
separated into application core and user
interface. That is the big advantage over another
OS where applications are huge monolithic code
monsters which cannot run without an open window
(no brands here
Now it is possible to rewrite an user interface
which serves your special needs. (Speech,
touch...) Your goal is _not_ to do all your work
on the command line. Your goal is to have an
_intelligent_ user interface which is adapted to
your needs. The Command line may be fast but its
not intelligent.
And now we are there where we started: who should
be interested to write these user interfaces other
than the people who will profit from them?
Blinux == Blind support under Linux
http://www.leb.net/blinux
--
Blind support and Linux (Score:1)
First: My annotations came under the title 'Blind
support and Linux'. So the argument
sounds somewhat strange.
Second: Nobody will dispute the importance of a
CLI. The point is: soon a blind power user will
find out, that the command line interface isn't
enough to fullfill his/her needs.
Think about working with a spreadsheet and a
screen reader. Now an intelligent speech enabled
user interface like Emacspeak enters the arena.
And finally: I didn't promote a personalized user
interface but an intelligent user interface.
A pretty differend beast.
An IUI works as a transmitter between you box and
the user. This could be a speech enabled interface
which 'knows' that this application uses windows.
Think about a news reader where thread info is
stored in one window, header info in the second
and the message in a third window.
--
RSI solutions? (Score:1)
-mike kania
Speech software (Score:1)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Datahand (Score:2)
datahand [datahand.com]
I can't help but evangelize this device. It is wonderful. My wrists were at the point that they hurt constantly, painfully; I lost sleep over it. I couldn't stop using the computer, though. After about a month of using nothing but the datahand, my wrists are SO much better. I still have occasional pain and numbness, but that's usually after using normal keyboards (like in the computer lab).
Datahand + fvwm2 go together to make a WONDERFUL team in terms of customizability. Even when I'm not using my Dathand, I don't have to use the mouse much (ctrl+shift+HKJL to move coarse, ctrl+shft+alt+HKJL to move fine-grained), and when I am, the fact I can customize the interface to be exactly right for the Datahand is so wonderful...
The personal edition cost me $900 after a 10% student discount. They're not cheap. But they're worth every penny. Consider that RSI surgery is generally $10k and only treats the symptoms (not the cuase)...
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Disabled geek (Score:1)
I think this would be a great area that Linux could excel in. And when it comes to web pages like mentioned before, can be a help for those Lynx users out there as well.
And just a personal note about the 'uhhhmmmm, uh, differently abled programmers', I am just one person, but I don't buy into all this PC BS. I could care less that the world's best graphics program is called the GIMP.
I've felt that STRESS is the main cause of RSIs... (Score:1)
It was reported in the New Scientist in the UK, and on their WWW edition at: http://www.newscientist.com/
However, the article needs a subscription to view it.
Essentially says that repeated, mindless physical action using fingers ends up scrweing up your brain, causing RSI - not the actual physical strain.
RSI solutions? (Score:3)
This is not the correct response to the situation. The correct response is to SEE A DOCTOR, IMMEDIATELY. Every day you spend on self-treatment with a particular solution which may or may not be appropriate is another day in which you could be doing irreversible damage to your body. You do NOT want to do this.
(Trust me; I spent nine months largely incapacitated and in great pain thanks to delaying proper treatment, and while I can work again, there are still a lot of things I can't do with my hands and arms. This is not something to screw around with.)
Which particular keyboard you use is only a tiny aspect of your behavior which is causing this damage. Posture at *and away from* the keyboard, work habits and breaks, typing in non-strenuous ways, ergonomic workstation setup, and so forth are all important.
Furthermore, if you're already experiencing pain, it's quite possible that you can't type normally without causing more damage. In my case, by the time I saw a doctor, repeated microtears, scarring, and healing had shortened my extensor tendons to the point where I no longer had anywhere near a normal range of motion. Even if I'd adopted perfect ergonomics, I still wouldn't have been able to type without pain and worsening my condition. I needed a lot of physical therapy to get back to normal.
In short, don't assume you can treat this yourself. See a doctor.
Recommended reading: Pascarelli and Quilter, Repetitive Strain Injury.
Web Accessibility (Score:1)
As Homer Simpson said (Score:1)
Speech software (Score:1)
NaTaS
yes there are but try and think outside of the box about the solution. How could you build it using the Unix component philosophy? Obviously, you would need a text-to-speech component. You would obviously need some sort of keyboard reader. But what about in the middle? How about some word prediction software? What kind of editing facilities what a person like this need? Do they have other handicaps that also need accommodating like a mobility problem?
It's not a simple point solution. It's a systemwide solution!
handicapped programmers (Score:1)
The best estimates I've seen say that approximately 50,000 developers are injured per year. Think about how many people make comments about how their wrists hurt and what kind of adaptations that made. These kinds of adaptations are a very simple form of handicapped accessibility so I take gentle issue with your assertion that handicapped accessibility would be something that they (OSS developers) would never use.
I'm currently working on a project with some people in the national research council of Canada. It is aimed specifically at alternative tools for programming. We are aiming at the speech recognition user first and everyone else second because that's our bias. For some rather crufty slides on the user interface and philosophy, take a look at:
http://www.connact.com/~esj/voice_coding
it was a presentation I gave over a year ago but the concepts are still valid.
--- eric
Jobs They Don't Enjoy -- No Way (Score:1)
I've had a couple of friends who developed carpal tunnel syndrom writing their PhD theses. And another who was a pianist.
I think some of the reason that you might think hackers don't get it is that so many are young. Wait till your 30s, kids. Staying up all night - whether partying or coding - is just no longer an option. Bits of you ache if you overuse them.
love,
Wench
always has been/always will be a SOCIAL problem (Score:1)
"so you want to help software? spend a few years studying communication theory, then generalize your program's output so that it can instantly
switch to any channel (braille, moon, aural, vibration, god knows what) and any human language. this means decoupling specific input and output from the program and gaining a basic knowledge of the reality of humanity, not something engineering people care about."
I believe there is some facility to do just this that Sun has been working on as part of Java. I don't know much about it, but a friend and I have been thinking about looking into it.
State of Linux GUI Toolkits? (Score:1)
Cool Ergo Keyboard Replacement. (Score:1)
I got one and I love it. I'm a righty, and I BAT with one hand and mouse with the other. I actually type faster with my left hand on a BAT than I do with both hands on a qwerty Keyboard.
I've felt that STRESS is the main cause of RSIs... (Score:1)
Jobs They Don't Enjoy -- No Way (Score:1)
speech recognition on Linux (Score:1)
Speech software (Score:1)
NaTaS
accessx (Score:1)
My findings are at
http://math.missouri.edu/~stephen/software/#acc
I hope that this information will become more widespread.
RSI solutions? (Score:1)
Don't overdose on them for any consistant period of time - apparently that can cause nerve problems in its own right.
These are just my experiences - YMMV.
No! Don't selftreat! (Score:1)
I speak from experience. I went many years with occasional pain in my hands and forearms. It was only after I could not type at all that I went to see a doctor, and I now have an injury that is disabling and very painful. It will take several months of physical therapy before I will even get past the pain. I may never be able to use the keyboard again extensively.
Trust me, you don't want this to happen to you. Don't attempt to selftreat. See a doctor, now.
You don't have to wait until you're thirty (Score:1)
I have extensive, disabling, and very painful forearm tendinitis. Months of physical therapy will be required just in order to get me back to where I can drive, clothe myself, and work a doorknob without pain. Using a keyboard will probably be months down the road.
And, you know what's the worst thing? I'm totally cut off from Linux, because DragonDictate NaturallySpeaking and other similar dictation products only run under Windows. If that's not a reason to adjust your behavior, I don't know what is.
Cool(dangerous??) Ergo Keyboard Replacement. (Score:1)
I got one and I love it. I'm a righty, and I BAT with one hand and mouse with the other. I actually type faster with my left hand on a BAT than I do with both hands on a qwerty Keyboard.
I notice from the picture on the Web site that this device seems to put the hand into both dorsiflexion and ulnar deviation -- a dangerous combination for RSI.
Also, you mention that you "actually type faster". This is not necessarily a good thing. One of the key reasons that RSI is so much worse of a public health problem now is the drastic increase in production expected by knowledge workers. A keyboard, unlike the typewriter before it, allows one to move at a pace fast enough for injury.
RSI solutions? (Score:1)
Festival Speech Synthesis System (Score:1)
It works well under Linux. It works best (obviously) with faster processors, but a Pentium 90 or higher should be sufficient for most uses.
A simple shell or perl script could be devised to speak sentences as they were typed.
Doc Technical
Too many X apps. (Score:1)
Blind support and Linux (Score:1)
>Forget the Linux is so good because it is command
>line. theme. Linux is so good because
>applications are cleanly separated into
>application core and user interface. That is the
>big advantage over another OS where applications
>are huge monolithic code monsters which cannot
>run without an open window (no brands here
While I would agree that the seperation of program core from the primary benifit, I would not be so quick to downplay the advantages of a command line interface. While it may be slightly cryptic, so is programming. Therefor my assertation would be that for anyone who codes, ie someone who has found a method of getting characters in and out of the system one at a time since this is what coding presently relies upon, would prefer to have a CLI to accomidate their particular disability. There are no circumstances I can see where a usable UI can be set up for the completely blind, ie those who use braille terminals, without a CLI. And I will continue to support my theory that CLIs are the most adaptable system in common use today. A GUI like X is stuck as a GUI, one cannot take it's graphical representation and effectivly convey the information through sound or touch. A CLI on the other hand, can more easily be portrayed in a tactile fasion, and can at least be partially transmitted as auditory info. A series of keystrokes is a more adaptable solution than a button that says 'click here' because while the button is more easily understood from a visual representation, it is virtually impossible to convey in tactile or auditory fasion.
>Now it is possible to rewrite an user interface
>which serves your special needs. (Speech,
>touch...) Your goal is _not_ to do all your work
>on the command line. Your goal is to have an
>_intelligent_ user interface which is adapted to
>your needs. The Command line may be fast but its
>not intelligent.
I would beg to differ. While the ability to create one's own personalized interface is without doubt a great thing, and one I would fight to keep, I would say that until someone shows me another UI I find as appealing, I will strive to do all my work from a CLI, and move to GUIs for only those things they do better, graphics and netscape.
Blank Web pages, too... (Score:1)
Compact phonetic language (Score:1)
Maybe another language? (Probably not COBOL!) There ought to be a decent programming language somewhere that is easier to speak than C or C++.
(Yes, / = "slash". I finally remembered to include that.
Ergo Keyboard Replacement. - Quinkey/Microwriter (Score:1)
They were cheap, and allowed chord typing for people with brittle bones or weak sight. We could modify the technology to fit harnesses so that anyone capable of hitting 6 independent keys simultaneously with any available appendage could use one.
They went out of business due to lack of demand. What more can you say?
The guts of the device was six diodes and six microswitches (cheap, cheap, cheap). They ran off a standard serial port. If anyone wants to know how to do it and is willing to start an algamic (http://agalmics.nu/) Linux Chord Keyboard project, mail me.
Vik
Text doesn't impress the boss. (Score:1)
If I wrote boring text web pages, *I'd* be the one getting fired
And ALT="descriptor" in your IMG tags would be so difficult? lazy, lazy lazy...
Mike
--
Getting to #3 (if it were that simple) (Score:1)
they'll be shoved aside for more popular things that the coder wanted to put in anyway.
I suggest that we get a GNOME and KDE accesibility libraries (or something to that effect) in order to get these things out to everybody. this will help new projects out as
- the development team won't have to deal hwith another thing taht should be done
- a standard "look and feel" that these libraries would go a long way in order to migrate Win9x/Office97/IE4 users (that is, of course, if anybody wants people like me in the linux club...
dagnabbit, there's no red wavy lines and F7 doesn't do anything. excuse my typos.
BTW, what does the c statement at the end mean?
Text doesn't impress the boss.... should it?!? (Score:1)
RSI solutions? (Score:1)
I was given a hand brace (big metal thing you'd get if you broke your wrist) - which only served to move the injury from my one hand to both.
Make sure that you see someone that is recommended, and that is a specialist, not a GP. In addition, I strongly recommend checking some books out of the library so that you know specifics.
From the ranks of the near-disabled... (Score:1)
I work in the telecom sector. I crimp lots of cables, for my patch panels, for 10/100bT hookups, for FDDI hookups. I'm on what my coworkers jokingly call the 'DL' (disabled list) for the next three weeks, after my visit to the doctor on Friday.
If I keep up what I've been doing the past three weeks, I stand to lose more than 50% of what little motor control I have left in my right hand. It's become increasingly hard for me to type over the years, and it only gets worse.
Ergonomic keyboards help, but they aren't a solution. You *will* get Repetitive Motion Syndrome. You'll get it on a BAT. You'll get it on a chorder. You'll get it on a standard keyboard. Typing is just plain bad. Very VERY bad. Period.
You hit the same keys, with the same fingers, over and over again. Which will lead to repetitive motion syndrome. It's not as bad as carpal tunnel syndrome, but it's just as disabling in the long run.
Simply placing my hands on any keyboard produces horrible pain at this point. I'm having a hard time typing this, even. And I'm on a Keytronics FlexPro, (they're available from Javanco at http://www.javanco.com/ for $25 currently. VERY few left in stock.) which is considered to be a true-ergonomic keyboard.
It didn't help. I have carpal tunnel from the time before. I have repetitive motion syndrome from all the time. I can barely hold a cigarette now. The answer isn't better keyboards. The answer isn't concentrating on helping the people who are already disabled. They're in their situation for whatever reason, and there is nothing we can do at this point to cure or prevent it. My heart really does go out to them; I have friends who are legally disabled for various reasons. But there is nothing we can do to prevent them at this point.
It's been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'm a strong believer in this at this point. If I had known that I would be in this situation long ago, I would have abandoned computers.
We need to concentrate on PREVENTING disabilities. Microsoft doesn't do that. They try to help those who are already disabled, but do nothing to help those who may become disabled down the line. (I'm sorry, but the M$ Natual Keyboard does NOT count. It hurts me just to put my hands on it.) Who's best known for voice recognition software? Dragon Systems, then IBM. Microsoft doesn't have any voice recognition product I'm aware of.
I'm not trying to downplay those who are unfortunate enough to be disabled. I'm going to be in the same situation myself before too long, at this rate. But I made my choice, and I knew the risks after the second year, when I was diagnosed with chronic tendonitis as a direct result from constant typing. I made my choice long ago. Some people aren't aware of the risks of typing. Others, with other disabilities, weren't given a chance or choice. But now...
We need to concentrate on prevention. Not just Linux people, not just Solaris people, not just Windows people. Everyone. Anyone and everyone who uses a computer is at risk of my situation. I'm not saying that carpal tunnel syndrome, or repetitive motion syndrome are more important than blindness or paralysis. However, what's important is that they can be PREVENTED. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
IMHO, I think what needs to be concentrated on is INTELLIGENT alternatives to a keyboard and mouse. Anything involving repetitive motion is just plain bad. It's more the repeated motion than the positioning that does the damage.
I honestly can't say I have any bright ideas, beyond voice recognition. But either way, I think it's a lot better to try and educate as well as prevent disabilities when possible, rather than to ignore them till it's too late.
Just my $0.02USD.
-RISCy Business | Head Unix Guru, Unicent Telecom
Real-State Widgets? (Score:1)
The fact is that i wanted to "mix" two mp3 streams in two emusic players and i could'nt because i have only one mouse pointer. At this point i thinked that was really cool to have two real potentiometers "linked" to the GTK widgets.
That could be extended to vumeters, progress bars, etc.. and all linked in some easy way to "virtual" widgets on the screen.
Imagine a "combo-box" linked to a one-line braille reader, or a scrollbar linked to a big potentiometer like the "stereo shuttle" ones. All
of this could be placed on a big plate and connected someway to the computer (USB?) and linked to the gtk library (A "real" GTK theme?) and configured by some easy tool...
Callme a fool, but i think that's the kind of things that could be usefull for all of us handicapped and less handicapped (Because, who's not handicapped at all???)
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RSI solutions? (Score:1)
What?? I was diagnosed with RSI in 1984. The solutions have been stated - rest, expert advice, posture.