An On-screen Keyboard for Users with Poor Pointer Control

This paper describes a novel design for an on-screen keyboard that makes it easier for some users with relatively poor pointer control to type. The keyboard uses the edge of the screen to reduce the dimensionality of the pointing task required to identify a character, and uses gesture, rather than click or dwell to select it for typing. A prototype keyboard is used in a study involving people with and without physical impairments using several types of pointing devices. The results show that this approach has some significant advantages compared to a conventional two dimensional on-screen keyboard, especially with some types of pointing devices.

By: Rick Kjeldsen

Published in: Universal Access in Human-Computer InterationBeijing, China, Springer-Verlag, p.339-48 in 2007

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