A New Mouse in the House

Sometimes I get Mac envy. Like today when I was switching between my touchpad and wireless mouse to prevent hand fatigue and cramping, I had wished I owned a MacBook Air, which has a giant touchpad and offers an easier, more fun ‘touch’ experience using several fingers. I began thinking about alternative mouse devices, especially for people with physical and motor impairments. For those with limited motor skills, there are a variety of options that have been around for a while, including the joystick, head pointers, Mouse keys and eye gaze devices. But the coolest non-mouse is known as multitouch, which was popularized by Apple’s iPhone, and lets computer users control graphical applications with their fingers. Touch is quickly becoming a common way of directly interacting with software and devices. Today iPhone and MacBook Air are used by millions of people with and without disabilities, and other companies are bringing products with multitouch to the market. For instance, Microsoft recently unveiled its Surface product that runs on Windows 7 (due out in late 2009) which lets its corporate customers use multi-touch in their stores. While Surface costs an approximate $5,000-$10,000 for each unit, it’s likely that Surface will one day be integrated into consumer PCs and the price will come down. Already, the Dell Latitude XT tablet uses multitouch, which is a good option for someone who can’t grasp a mouse and wants the functionality of a traditional PC. You can use your finger or a stylus instead. Take a look at other cell phones that are utilizing touch to let you zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image. These include the Blackberry Storm and Google's G1 (reviewed here by Information Week). G1 uses a combination of touch, trackball and physical keyboard, which is nice for the user who likes to have navigation options. Some people with motor disabilities already use their chin, elbow, or tongue to control a trackball. The Storm multitouch screen uses something called "haptic touch" so when you press a button on the screen or on the virtual keyboard it feels as if you're actually pressing on that specific spot. It’s tactile, which provides more peace of mind if you're hearing-impaired. If you’re blind, this makes typing and clicking a lot easier. What’s important is that multitouch provides a non-mouse alternative for people with limited physical use of their fingers or arms. And it’s an assistive technology that’s already built into the systems of mainstream technology, so there’s no adaptation needed once you take your new phone, PC, GPS system, etc., of the box. But multitouch can help, say, a person with arthritis, MS or cerebral palsy who can't grasp or click a mouse. Touch isn’t an all-in solution, of course. Some people have no use of their forelimbs at all. That’s why the joystick is operated by tongue; a head pointer is operated by the head. But as technology advances we’ll be seeing more interaction and collaboration with our sensory and motor processes. For someone with a disability, any way that we can manipulate content to get what we want is something we’re great at.

Apple to Aid Blind Users -- Again

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has been quite active in the last couple months. On Friday, the NFB, along with Massachusetts General Martha Coakley, reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to make Apple's iTunes -- the most popular music retail outlet in the U.S. -- more accessible to blind and visually-impaired Internet users.

In September, Apple released, and was praised for, its 4th generation iPod Nano and iTunes 8, which is screen-reader friendly on both Macs and PCs. These new features let blind users manage their libraries as well as purchase and download content from the iTunes store. The new iPod itself is also equipped with talking menus and large font options. On a Mac, iTunes is compatible with Apple's built-in VoiceOver screen reader; on a PC using Windows XP or Vista, it's compatible with GW Micro's Windows-Eyes (and soon, Freedom Scientific's Jaws for Windows) screen readers, which must be purchased separately for around $1,000.

But the NFB wasn't impressed, and took Apple to task to come up with a solution to make iTunes accessible to all screen-access software by June 30, 2009. Apple agreed, and said it will install technology in iTunes that will allow blind consumers to turn on-screen information into either braille or speech so they can search iTunes using keyboard commands. For instance, iTunes will audibly speak whenever a user passes the cursor over important on-screen navigational prompts such as the file commands or movie, music, educational and television titles that are available for purchase and download.

Still, PC screen readers must be purchased separately, and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind has said that purchase discounts are available across the U.S. and that the commission itself has bought a large batch of the software and is supplying it free to the blind in Massachusetts. Oh, and Apple will donate $250,000 to the commission to help foot the bill.

Are companies afraid? The NFB already sued Target in August for failing to make its retail website accessible for blind users. Target had to pay $6 million in damages for blind users who were unable to navigate Target's web site, and has agreed to make its website more accessible to screen-reading software.

It's a shame that the NFB is turning so litigious. Apple had already made great strides with its latest versions of the iPod and iTunes. Let's look at the positive side of this. Not only will blind users have more access to this popular social and educational vehicle, but it's a boon for universal design. After all, most American consumers spend all day staring at a computer in the office. It would be nice if they had the option to operate their iPod with "eyes-free" technology such as spoken menus. This would allow them to use their iPods on the go, while driving, working out, reading, knitting, eating, working -- the list goes on.

Perhaps this agreement will lead to more innovation among gadget-makers to consider all of their users, including those with disabilities. Then the voice-activated mp3 player might end up on next Christmas wish list (or the college syllabus).

My Love Affair with Assistive Tech

If you haven't heard of Disaboom, you should definitely check out their site. It's a strong community of PWDs who are learning from and interacting with each other. I was the subject of an interview for their Living Forward section that was published today. An excerpt:

Suzanne first fell in love with assistive technology (AT) when she started her second New York City job at Businessweek Online. She was originally hired to cover stock market reports, but was soon asked if she wanted to write a weekly column on assistive technology. “I’ve always had people helping me—sign language interpreters, note-takers, etc.—never technology. It struck me how much independence I could gain through technology.”

Writing about AT was a way for Suzanne to help people with disabilities gain independence. She is fascinated by the way assistive technology can be as simple as a mainstream product used in a special way, but still have a big impact. “Technology has changed my life,” Suzanne states.

A "mainstream product" can be anything off-the-shelf, from an iPod - blind people can load audio content, to wireless headsets - used by the mobility impaired to command a PC. It's up to PWDs to get creative and capitalize on products that are designed to be profit-makers but can also be life-changers.