Telecare is a particular sort of assistive technology that uses electronic sensors connected to an alarm system to help caregivers manage risk and help vulnerable people stay independent at home longer. An example would be the systems being put in place for senior people such as fall detectors, thermometers (for hypothermia risk), flooding and unlit gas sensors (for people with mild dementia). Notably, these alerts can be customized to the particular person’s risks. When the alert is triggered, a message is sent to a career or contact center who can respond appropriately. Technology similar to Telecare can also be used to act within a person’s home rather than just to respond to a detected crisis. Using one of the examples above, unlit gas sensors for people with dementia can be used to trigger a device that turns off the gas and tells someone what has happened.
Designing for people with dementia is a good example of how the design of the interface of a piece of AT is critical to its usefulness. People with dementia or any other identified user group must be involved in the design process to make sure that the design is accessible and usable. In the example above, a voice message could be used to remind the person with dementia to turn off the gas himself, but whose voice should be used, and what should the message say? Questions like these must be answered through user consultation, involvement and evaluation. [Edit] Accessible computer input Sitting at a desk with a QWERTY keyboard and a mouse remains the dominant way of interacting with a personal computer. Some AT reduces the strain of this way of work through ergonomic accessories with height-adjustable furniture, footrests, wrist rests, and arm supports to ensure correct posture. Key guards fits over the keyboard to help prevent unintentional key presses. Alternatively AT may attempt to improve the ergonomics of the devices themselves: Ergonomic keyboards reduce the discomfort and strain of typing.
Chorded keyboards have a handful of keys (one per digit by hand) to type by ‘chords’ which produce different letters and keys. Expanded keyboards with larger, more widely-spaced keys. Compact and miniature keyboards. Dvorak and other alternative layouts, which offer more ergonomic layouts of the keys [citation needed]. There are also variants of Dvorak in which the most common keys are located at either the left or right side of the keyboard. Input devices may be modified to make them easier to see and understand:
Keyboards with lowercase Keys Keyboard with big keys. Large print keyboard with high contrast colors (such as white on black, black on white, and black on ivory). Large print keyboard adhesive stickers in high contrast colors (such as white on black, white on black, and black on yellow). Embossed locator dots help find the ‘home’ keys, F and J, on the keyboard. Scroll wheels on mice remove the need to locate the scrolling interface on the computer screen. Foot Mouse – Foot operated mice. More ambitiously, and quite crucially when keyboard or mouse prove unusable, AT can also replace the keyboard and mouse with alternative devices: trackballs, joysticks, graphics tablets, touch pads, touch screens, foot mice, a microphone with speech recognition software, sip-and – puff input, and switch access. Software can also make input devices easier to use: Keyboard shortcuts and mouse keys allow the user to substitute for keyboarding mouse actions. Macro recorders can greatly extend the range and sophistication of keyboard shortcuts. Sticky keys allows characters or commands to be typed without having to hold down a modifier key (Shift, Ctrl, Alt) while pressing a second key. Similarly, Click Lock is a Microsoft Windows features that remembers a mouse button is down so that items can be highlighted or dragged without holding the mouse button down throughout. Customization of mouse or mouse alternatives’ responsiveness to movement, double-clicking, and so forth.
Toggle Keys is a feature of Microsoft Windows 95 onwards. A high sound is heard when the CAPS LOCK, SCROLL LOCK, or NUM LOCK key is switched on and a low sound is heard when any of those keys are switched off Customization of pointer appearance, such as size, color and shape. Predictive Text Spell checkers and grammar checkers
[Edit] Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Seating products that assist people to sit comfortably and safely (seating systems, cushions, therapeutic seats). Standing products to support people with disabilities in the standing position while maintaining / improving their health (standing frame, standing wheelchair, active stand). Walking products to aid people with disabilities who are able to walk or stand with assistance (canes, crutches, walkers, gait trainers). Wheeled mobility products that enable people with mobility disabilities to move freely indoors and outdoors (wheelchairs, scooters) [Edit] Learning difficulties Age appropriate software Cause and effect software [2] Hand-eye co-ordination skills software Diagnostic Assessment Software Mind Mapping Software
Study Skills Software Icon-based software [3] Text-to-Speech Touch Typing Software
[Edit] Visual Impairment Choice of appropriate hardware and software will depend on the user’s level of functional vision. RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage) has the potential to help both low vision and the blind navigate outside and indoors. [Edit] Hardware
Large monitors. Adjustable task lamp, using a fluorescent bulb, shines directly onto the paper and can be adjusted to suit. Copy Holder holds printed material in near vertical position for easier reading and can adjusted to suit. Closed circuit television (CCTV) or video magnifier. Printed materials and objects are placed under a camera and the magnified image is displayed onto a screen. Modified cassette recorder. To record a lecture, own thoughts, ideas, notes, etc. Desktop compact cassette dictation system to allow audiocassette playback with the aid of a foot pedal. Fusers produce tactile materials, for example diagrams and maps, by applying heat to swell special paper. Scanner. A device used in conjunction with OCR software. The printed document is scanned and converted into electronic text, which can then be displayed on screen as recognizable text.
Standalone reading aids are integrate a scanner, optical character recognition (OCR) software and speech software in a single machine, working without a separate PC. [4]
Refresh reading Braille display. An electronic tactile device which is placed under the computer keyboard. A line of cells, that move up and down to represent a line of text on the computer screen, enables the user to read the contents of the computer screen in Braille. Electronic note taker. A portable computer with a Braille or QWERTY keyboard and synthetic speech. Some models have an integrated Braille display. Braille embosser. Embosses Braille output from a computer by punching dots onto paper. It connects to a computer in the same way as a text printer. Perkins Braille. To emboss manually Grade 1 or 2 Braille. [Edit] Software Customization of graphical user interfaces to alter the colors and size of desktops, short-cut icons, menu bars and scroll bars. Screen magnifiers
Screen readers Self-voicing Applications Optical Character Recognition. Converts the printed word into text, via a scanner. Braille translation. Converts the printed word into Braille, which can then be embossed via a Braille embosser. Text-to-speech and speech-to-text Spell Checker and Grammar checkers [Edit] Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Augmentative and alternative communication is a well defined specialty within AT. AAC devices vary widely with respect to their technological sophistication: Low-Tech Systems. Simple paper or object based systems, i.e. do not require a battery. Light-Tech Systems. typically consisting of a digitized speech recorder with a touch sensitive display pad and sometimes switch access. Lite-tech systems require a battery. High-tech system. Computerized VOCAs that vary from single purpose appliance-like systems to multipurpose computer-based communication aids. Typically high-tech systems require training and ongoing support to operate the devices. [Edit]
Deafness and Hearing Loss Audiometer Paging Fire Alarm System Loop system (portable and fixed) Radio AIDS Telecommunications device for the deaf Tele text Video cassette recorders that can read and record subtitles (closed captioning). Vibrating alarm fire placed under pillow when asleep. Doorbell Lighting System [Edit] Others Wakamaru provides companionship, reminds users to take medicine and calls for help if something is wrong. CARE (Call Reassurance) community based program that calls seniors at home ensuring their well-being [1]. Cosmobot is part of a play therapy system designed to motivate children to participate in therapy.