Bad Vision Keyboards Make Typing Easy

Bad Vision Keyboards Make Typing Easy

Using a computer keyboard can be challenging. For people that struggle when they are trying to type, there is a special technology to help. Bad vision keyboards are color coded and have large lettering to make typing easier. Rather than straining to read which letter is which, the typeface is large and clear. Black letters on yellow or white keys stand out better than the usual black keys with white letters.

Some keyboards come with all capital letters. These are easy to see when people have bad vision. Professional typists are not supposed to look at the keyboard while typing, so size and color should not matter. However, not everyone who uses a computer keyboard is a professional, and most people do look at the keys to make sure they are using the right ones. The hunt-and-peck typing system has been around since the invention of the typewriter, and much longer than computer keyboards. It is much easier to peck when the person can see what they are hunting.

Children, for example, are forever learning. They understand that touching certain keys makes the letters come up on the computer monitor, but it is difficult for little kids to understand why they look different. Standard keyboards have all capital letters. The letters on the computer screen are mostly lower case and don’t look the same. Keyboards with lower case letters are easier for children to understand, because keys they stroke look just like the ones that pop up on the computer monitor. Add in brightly colored keys, and a child can learn to communicate even better.

Children with learning disabilities and vision problems need extra help. By making the size of the lettering larger than standard keyboard keys, simple things like doing homework are much easier when the child can type, rather than squinting at the thin white letters on the black keyboard or wrestling with a pencil and paper due to coordination issues.

For children and adults with vision problems only, different colors are easier to spot than letters. Learning which finger belongs on which key is much simpler for those who can associate colors with hand placement. When used together with special computer monitors that magnify type size, bad vision keyboards make it possible for anyone who understands words and sentences to communicate effectively. For adults, this can make the difference between having a meaningful career and not working at all.

Merry Christmas!

During the holiday season it is important to take some time to reflect on all the positive things in our lives, and I am thankful for getting to spend the holidays with my family.

Happy Holidays to All!

Fun Christmas Trivia

Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This tradition began in 1836.

Although many believe the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.

An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and see 28 eight cards return in their place.

Animal Crackers are not really crackers, but cookies that were imported to the United States from England in the late 1800s. Barnum's circus-like boxes were designed with a string handle so that they could be hung on a Christmas tree.

California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are the top Christmas tree producing states. Oregon is the leading producer of Christmas trees.

Charles Dickens' initial choice for Scrooge's statement "Bah Humbug" was "Bah Christmas."

Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition.

A White Christmas

It looks like many people will have a white Christmas this year! My grand kids are very excited to have the snow and it sure adds holiday cheer. No matter what's going on in the world the Christmas season always makes me feel good and I can't help but feeling thankful for all the wonderful things in my life.

Christmas is finally here and what I am mostly thankful for is getting to spend it with my family, and that I'm done shopping, wrapping, and getting ready! Can't wait for Christmas morning.

The Gift of Communication

I am always in awe of modern technology, and the holidy season is a time that reminds me how lucky we are to have computers and the internet to allow us to connect and share with friends and family so easily. People of all ages can benefit form the wonder of computers to stay in touch and share the joys of life both great and small to the people that matter in their life.

Computers make the world accessible to children who are just learning about life as well as seniors who would otherwise be confined to a lonely existence in their homes. We are truly blessed to be able to reach out to the world no matter our age or ability.

Cute Mouse Makes Computing Fun

Although there is not much time left for online Christmas shopping, I had to share this very cute and very interesting mouse I found online. For some reason I am just enamored with it because it is so original.

Great Grand Parent Resources

I love spending time with my grandkids, and like to find fun crafts and activities to do with them. My favorite sites for craft and activity resources as well as finding like minded grandparent communities are:

grandparentsdigest.com

grannylook.com

grandparents.com

The Best Places for Kids to Learn Online

My grandkids are very computer savvy, and have many fun and educational websites they frequent. Here is a list of their favorite websites that have great games as well as information kids find exciting.

Funbrain.com

Great games for kids

National Gallery of Art

Explore famous works of art and create your own

Ben's History Guide

Fun history website

mathplayground.com

Great math games

playmusic.org

Create Music

kidsgowild.com

All about animals and nature

starfall.com

Tons of reading activities and games

tumblebooks.com

Online story books

Brainpop.com

Science fun

The Best Places for Seniors to Learn Online

Mom and I love to learn new things everyday. Here is a list of our favorite websites that cater to senior learning:

SeniorNet.com

ncoa.org

questonline.org

Elderweb.com

A Great Gift for Early Computer Learners

With Christmas just around the corner I thought I would share an awesome gift I found for the grand kids. It seems like now a days with the important place computers occupy in our lives it is never too early to start teaching children how to use a computer.

http://www.chestercreek.com/KidsStarterSet.html is a great set that I found complete with a keyboard, mouse, and software all designed for young kids. The color coded keyboard is perfect for learning the correct typing posture and the tiny mouse is the perfect size for children's hands. And the included Reader Rabbit software for Preschool, Kindergarten and 1st Grade will last for years.

Steady Your Hands

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

If you have a mild tremor or your stiff fingers are creating typos and other keyboard errors, Filter Keys can give you the equivalent of a steady hand by enabling your computer to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes that you make accidentally. Here's how to use filter keys:

1. To open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Explore all settings, select:

Make the keyboard easier to use.

3. Under Make it easier to type, select:

Turn on Filter Keys.

4. In Set up Filter Keys, be sure Turn on Filter Keys is selected, then select from the following options:

Turn on Filter Keys when right SHIFT is pressed for 8 seconds if you want to use the shortcut key to turn Filter Keys on and off.

Display a warning message when turning a setting on if you want to see a visual message when turning Filter Keys on and off.

Make a sound when turning a setting on and off if you want an audible message when turning Filter Keys on and off.

Beep when keys are pressed or accepted if you want to hear a beep when keystrokes are accepted.

Display the Filter Keys icon on the taskbar if you want a visual reminder that Filter Keys is on.
Save to save your settings and close the dialog box.

5. Under Type text here to test settings:

Test your settings by typing within the box before saving your settings.

Making The Mouse Easier to Use

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

Not only can you make the mouse pointer easier to see, you can make the mouse easier to use and more responsive to your movements. Here is how to adjust the response speed of your mouse:
1. To open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Explore all settings, select:

Make the mouse easier to use.

3. In Mouse Properties:

Select the Pointer Options tab.

4. Under Motion slide the selector to fast or slow depending on the speed that works best for you

Text Narration for Computer Users with Poor Eye Sight

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

For people with poor eyesight, a narrator can read menus, text, and anything else on screen without leaving the active window. Here is how to activate your computer's built in narrator:

To turn on the narrator for your current session:

1. To open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Quick access to common tools, select:

Start Narrator.

Turn on Narrator so that it starts automatically each time you log on to your computer:

1. Under Explore all settings, select:

Use the computer without a display, by pressing TAB, then ENTER.

2. Under Hear text read aloud, select:

Turn on Narrator.
Select Save.

Built in Magnification for Internet Explorer

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

If you have difficulty reading webpages, you can easily magnify them in Internet Explorer.

At the bottom right hand corner of Internet Explorer there is a small magnifying glass. Clicking on this icon will automatically enlarge the page by 25% or you can choose a custom magnification level by clicking the arrow to the right of the magnifying glass and choosing a magnification level that works best for you.

Make Your Mouse Pointer Easier to See

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

If you have a hard time following the mouse pointer you can change the size and color of the mouse pointer for better visibility. Here's how"

1. To open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Explore all settings, select:

Make the mouse easier to use.

3.Under Mouse pointers:

Select a cursor and pointer combination that is larger, darker, and easier for you to see.
Select Save.

Using Visual Alerts for the Hearing

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

If you would rather receive notifications for system sounds visually rather than audibly, you can select Turn on visual notifications for sounds (Sound Sentry), and then choose the visual warning you want.

1. To open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Explore all settings, select:

Use text or visual alternatives for sounds.

3. Under Use visual cues instead of sounds, select:

Turn on visual notifications for sounds (Sound Sentry).

4. Under Choose visual warning, select one of the following options:

None.
Flash active caption bar.
Flash active window.
Flash desktop.
Select Save.

Using Speech Recognition to Ease Mobility Issues

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

Windows Vista has a built in speech recognition program that seniors with mobility issues can use instead of the keyboard and mouse to perform any task on the computer from opening programs and browsing the internet to writing emails and documents.

1. On the Start menu, select:

Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Speech Recognition.

2. In Configure your Speech Recognition experience, select:

Start Speech Recognition.
The first time you select Start Speech Recognition you'll be taken through setting up your microphone and the Speech Tutorial. You'll also be given the option to set Speech Recognition to start each time you log on to your computer.

Using your PC's Built In Magnifier

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

Windows operating systems have a built in magnifier that is perfect for seniors who have vision problems. Here is how to use the magnifier that comes with your operating system.

To use the magnifier with your current computer session:

1. To go to the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Quick access to common tools, select:

Start Magnifier.

You can also turn on the magnifier so that it starts automatically each time you log on to your computer.

1. Under Explore all settings, select:

Make the computer easier to see.

2. Under Make things on the screen larger, select:

Turn on Magnifier.
Select Save.

Making Your Computer Easier to See

There are many ways you can make your computer more accessible for you or someone else who uses it with age related problems. In this multi part series, I will explore the built in settings you can adjust on your PC to make it more accessible for anyone with age related vision, hearing, or tactile problems.

How to Make Text Larger and Easier to Read:

1. Open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Explore all settings, select:

Make the computer easier to see.

3. Under Make things on the screen larger, select:

Change the size of text and icons.

4. Select Larger scale (120 DPI) - make text more readable.

Click OK


Change to High Contrast

High Contrast heightens the color contrast of some text and images on your computer screen, making those items more distinct and easier to identify. Increasing the contrast in colors reduces eyestrain and makes things easier to read for many people.

1. Open the Ease of Access Center, select:

Start.
Control Panel.
Ease of Access.
Ease of Access Center.

2. Under Quick access to common tools, select:

Set up High Contrast.

3. Under High Contrast, select:

Choose a High Contrast color scheme.

4. Under Color scheme, select:

One of the High Contrast options from the list.
OK.

5. Under High Contrast, to use the shortcut to turn High Contrast on or off, select:

Turn on High Contrast when left ALT + left SHIFT + PRINT SCREEN is pressed.

Smaller Can Be Better For Seniors

The internet can open up the whole world to seniors who are otherwise limited in their ability to get out and interact with the world. Sometimes age related issues such as arthritis or diminishing eyesight can make using common computer accessories such as the keyboard and mouse hard to use.

Fortunately there are accessibility solutions for seniors that make it easier to use the computer. For example, Chester Creek’s Tiny Mouse is about half the size of a standard computer mouse and just right for arthritic or stiff hands. The small size and a smooth-rolling scroll wheel help all users who find it painful to hyper-extend and stretch their hands to click the right and left buttons on a standard mouse. And with optical tracking, there is no longer a trackball to become dirty, lost or malfunction.

For many seniors stretching the joints to use a normal size mouse causes them to ache, but with the Tiny Mouse the hand no longer has to be hyper-extend.