what keyboard and mouse would you recommend?

Everyday living
1

Hi, I want to provide these items for somebody with MS but I’m not quite sure which products would be the most suitable. The person in question has loss of sensation in his fingertips and impaired fine motor control. He notes that he makes a lot of typos when typing by hitting the wrong key and that he finds double clicking the mouse difficult.

My intial thought was a ‘big keys’ keyboard for the keyboard, and that maybe a normal mouse would be ok if Windows accessibility features were used with it (eg one click folder opening).

Anyhow, if anyone has any thoughts on the matter they’d be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

2

Try dragon via voice. It helps as it is voice activated

3

Thanks, I’ll be providing that also. I was hoping to offer a keyboard and mouse alternative though, as I know from my own experience as a Dragon user, that sometimes it can be a pain to launch it and don the headphones when you want to do something quickly…

4

There is a way of altering the way the mouse ‘behaves’.I haven’t a clue how to do it but a good start is in the Control Panel which is accessed via the Computer screen.

Wb

5

I found using a normal mouse difficult so I got myself a Vertical Grip Mouse

Neil

6

You generally have a pointing device icon on task bar. This can alter the speed of the mouse. Also the characteristics of the screen can be altered in the accessibility options. A good mouse that can be used is the gaming joystick from Microsoft, you can use this as a mouse. You can also use the microsoft ergonomic keyboard. Personally I use a virtual keyboard a la iPad. Mikr

7

Thanks for all the info. Because this chap was having difficulty double-clicking in particular, I went for a conventionally-shaped mouse with extra programmable buttons. And a large key keyboard. But I hear what you say about joysticks.

8

If there are probs double licking just alter mouse properties In control panel

9

Do you mean setting your mouse properties so that ‘single click = double click’? That’s not always ideal IMHO, cos sometimes you want to just click ‘into’ a list of folders so the computer’s ‘focus’ is on the list, then you can use the mouse’s scroll wheel to move down the list till you find the folder you want. If you’re set to ‘single click = double click’, you end up entering folders you didn’t want to enter. If you see what I mean.

10

btw - I’m not ‘Mikep’ having a conversation with myself. I often sign my emails off as ‘Mikep’ tho…which is a bit spooky

11

Hi mikep also This is gonna confuse people. In the properties alter the mouse drag and double click speed. Still use 2 mouse buttons-don’t like mac mice. Mikep not mikep

12

Hi my last relapse I couldn’t press buttons at all with my right hand. I thought I was pressing, but nothing happened! Couldn’t press tv remote or anything, so using a conventional keybord was all left handed. The only thing that I could use both hands for was an iPad, although it is a bit smaller for co ordinating movements. It also has voice application but may not be big enough for everyday use for documents etc. hope this helps a bit. Good luck finding something that helps : )

13

Hey Mish The iPad is great- I ise it loads and sync in cloud to iPhone. Never into apple that much but ok. I have Ms office and quick office too, it helps for working. As it an iPad , it not have a sim so I use personal hotspot on my phone if I want a bigger screen when out and about.

14

The mouse and keyboard question looks to be one that could come up again regularly.

The big question is WHY? Is the real problem making lots of typos, etc, or is it being able to see them and correct them?

Most “large” keyboards are aimed at the visually handicapped. Some only have large fonts, while others have large keys as well (say 1” or 25mm square). Generally speaking, if you have large keys, the keyboard will be the same size as normal, but will have a lot less keys (usually the number keypad and Function keys will be lost). Take a look at the HCL 591-5239 Visually Impaired Person Keyboard and see what I mean. Prices can vary dramatically (buyer beware). Any former touch typist, and a lot of others, will have a problem with a keyboard with large keys – any given key may not be in the same place even if the keys are in the same layout.

Mice are a different question.
First, do not use a mouse with a roller ball underneath – get an optical mouse.
Second, I have found that cheap mice (ASDA, Wilkinsons, or Tesco) work just as well and last just as long as any others. Third, get a mouse with two buttons and a scroll wheel (if it has a USB connection it will also work on a lot of Macs as well). I have an ASDA mouse (£2.99, I think) plugged into my G5 Imac.

If you have the scrollwheel type mouse, and you have FireFox or Opera as your browser, when surfing you can hold down the [ctrl] key and zoom in/out by rolling the wheel to and fro. This works on both PCs and Macs. With the ASDA mouse and several others, you can operate the buttons by pressing with the centre joint of a finger, rather than the tip. This makes it easy to get the bulk of the mouse under the palm, and mouse movements can be made by the arm, rather than the wrist.

So it comes back to the matter of which problem you are trying to solve. It could be that “fumblefingers” can be solved by altering the height of the chair, so that the user’s arms rest on the desk (note that some people sell wrist-rests to do a similar job). A different approach to mice may solve the problem of insensitive finger-tips.

If the user has a PC, it can be worth looking at an interface program called ELDY. It is aimed at the older user and offers both a simple interface, and a social network. Look up http://www.eldy.eu and try it (it is a free download).

Geoff

15

Hi Mike My hubby bought me an iPad after my diagnosis. I think I am still trying to learn how to get the most out of it. IT and me don’t always get on. It was bonkers not being able to press a button or key! Can press buttons again now (can still be a bit difficult some days) but it was two or three months of being a left handed whizz! Lol Thanks for your post. Mish x

16

Some really useful info posted, much appreciated.

Geoff, why optical over roller ball?

17

Optical is smoother. It does not get fluff between the track ball an micro switch. Optical will work on any surface can be funny on just white. Optical tends to be more accurate. I also use a USB tablet with a pen stylus. I just point to the mouse and again to 2x click

18

[quote=“Mish”] Hi Mike My hubby bought me an iPad after my diagnosis. I think I am still trying to learn how to get the most out of it. IT and me don’t always get on. It was bonkers not being able to press a button or key! Can press buttons again now (can still be a bit difficult some days) but it was two or three months of being a left handed whizz! Lol Thanks for your post. Mish x [/quote] The iPad admittedly takes sone getting used to, but I use mine more then a laptop. In association with my phone it’s a great tool.

19

The big reason for going to an optical mouse is that the ball types pose one very big problem. The position of the hand is more or less constrained by the mouse body shape.The position of the ball with reference to the wrist joint can vary by over a inch (it can even be under the wrist) and this affects the range of available movements to move the ball. With an optical mouse, these considerations do not apply. Back in the day when I taught HCI and Human Factors, I had a large bagfull of mice ready for one lecture - and everyone had a different ball position.

Geoff

20

I wish I had been at one of those lectures…

I’m not sure I follow the optical vs roller ball reasoning above. When I said ‘roller ball’ - I didn’t mean ‘roller ball’ as in the ball on the top, I meant roller ball underneath, as in a ‘normal’ mouse (my use of the terminolgy was misleading but I guess you realised I was talking about a normal mouse). Anyway, I’m thinking the position of the point at which the ball touches the mat surface in relation to the overall shape of the mouse is not necessarily different from the point of contact provided by an optical mouse…

Gosh it’s so hard to communicate about this stuff with words! I’m sure with a 5 second practical demonstration I’d know instantly what you meant.

Mike