Enabling Technology

Disabilities: Medical

Project ideas

Universally Accessible Video Games

Categories | Social impact: Education | Disabilities: Medical | Disabilities: Cognitive | Disabilities: Physical | Disabilities: Auditory | Disabilities: Visual |

Description - Some forms of entertainment, video games for instance, cannot be accessed by persons with disabilities. Build a video game that can be enjoyed by anyone. A game that can be used in an educational setting for young children would be excellent. Multiplayer games would be interesting, especially ones that involve cooperation among kids with different abilities.

One-Handed Keyboards

Categories | Disabilities: Physical | Disabilities: Cognitive | Disabilities: Medical | Disabilities: Auditory | Interfaces: Devices |

Description - Survey what one-handed keyboards are available and how they are used as computer input devices for people with disabilities. How would typing-to-speech compare to ASL to speech as a communication device? In a world where everyone uses "text messaging" on their cell phones and is really good (and fast) at typing on the little keyboards, will people with disabilities benefit?

Morse-Code Keyboard

Categories | Disabilities: Physical | Disabilities: Cognitive | Disabilities: Medical | Interfaces: Devices |

Description - A free, easy to use Morse-code input system that works with any app by synthesizing keystroke events (easy) could be benefinicial to users with physical impairments. How does it compete with Graffiti? It should have the huge advantages only requiring one hand and leaving the eyes free.

Temporal User Interfaces

Categories | Disabilities: Visual | Disabilities: Auditory | Disabilities: Physical | Disabilities: Cognitive | Disabilities: Medical | Interfaces: Auditory | Interfaces: Visual | Interfaces: Tactile |

Description - Computer interfaces are mostly sequential. Consider telephone menu systems: enter 1 for parts, enter 2 for service, etc. As another example, when you kill an unresponsive program, Windows XP pops up a dialog asking me if you want to send an error report to MS. You must respond to it before proceeding. An alternative user interface strategy (for both sighted and blind) depends on asynchronous alerts and user responses. Think of the underlining of misspelled words in many editors; it occurs sometime after typing and can be corrected (or not) anytime. Emacspeak has some nice features like this. The presence of a footnote associated with a word is indicated by a audible signal played along with the speech for the word without stopping. The listener can respond to the signal by requesting the footnote be followed or ignore it. A project investigating what is known about asynchronous user interfaces and perhaps a prototype implementation would be really interesting and likely result in a paper.

External links

Directory of Service Oriented Assistive Technology Companies

Categories | Disabilities: Visual | Disabilities: Auditory | Disabilities: Physical | Disabilities: Cognitive | Disabilities: Medical |

Description - This website is a list of assistive technology companies. Each listing includes the main products of the company and contact information. I think this website may be helpful for students researching present technology regarding their project interests.

Submitted by Christa Wheeler

Adaptive Technology for the Internet: Making Electronic Resources Accessible to All

Categories | Disabilities: Visual | Disabilities: Auditory | Disabilities: Physical | Disabilities: Cognitive | Disabilities: Medical | Social impact: Acceptance | Social impact: Legal issues |

Description - Online book about accessibility.

Submitted by Fred Brooks