Better Tools For Disabled Geeks? 228
layabout writes "We've seen tremendous advances in user interfaces over the past few years. Unfortunately, those UIs and supporting infrastructure exclude the disabled. In the same timeframe there has been virtually no advance in accessibility capabilities. It's the same old sticky keys, unicorn stick, speech recognition, text-to-speech that kind-of, sort-of, works except when you need to work with with real applications. Depending on whose numbers you use, anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 keyboard users are injured every year — some temporarily, some permanently. In time, almost 100% of keyboard users will have trouble typing and using many if not all mobile computing devices. My question to Slashdot: Given that some form of disability is almost inevitable, what's keeping you from volunteering and working with geeks who are already disabled? By spending time now building the interfaces and tools that will enable them to use computers more easily, you will also be ensuring your own ability to use them in the future." Follow the link for more background on this reader's query.
This question is aimed mostly at the kind of disability we are susceptible to and I have been living with for the past 15 years. Even though we have speech recognition, it doesn't solve any problem except writing text. There have been a couple of attempts at making speech recognition more useful to programmers [0], but they have failed. The needs are clear:
[1] A working full-vocabulary, continuous recognition system on Linux.
[2] Tools that don't expect you to "speak the keyboard."
[3] Tools that let you edit as well as create code.
So why don't more geeks work on securing their own future, or at the very least, work to help their fellow geeks to stay on the economic ladder?
[0] VoiceCode and VR-Mode: VoiceCode or is an amazing piece of work. It makes it possible for a disabled programmer to generate Python code very quickly. Unfortunately, it does not solve the editing problem. Even more unfortunately, it's hand-wearingly complicated to set up and get working. VR-Mode makes it possible to use Naturally Speaking's "Select and Say" mode in Emacs — that is, if you can get it to work. It seems to have drifted into non-functionality as Emacs has moved forward.
[1] Naturally Speaking works well, is reasonably cheap, and works somewhat under Wine today. If we can make it work reliably under Wine, it solves the problem in months rather than decades. Other tools such as Sphinx 1-4 are great IVR systems if you have a vocabulary and grammar under 15,000 words. In contrast, Naturally Speaking's working vocabulary is in the 100,000-word range. Any disabled user will choose Naturally Speaking because it works so much better than the nearest alternative. We have people who are injured now and need these tools. They can't afford to wait 10 years or more for an OSS solution.
[2] "Speaking the keyboard" refers to speech user interfaces developed by people who don't use speech recognition. They expect you to say too much, which creates a vocal form of RSI — see [3]. Listen to what disabled users do, not to what you think they should speak.
[3] See VoiceCode in [0]. Unfortunately, today's tools are only for writing code, not correcting code. Code correction is a very different process and must be spoken in a different way: "change index" instead of "search forward left bracket leave mark search forward right bracket copy region." This is also an example of "speaking the keyboard."
Permanently disabled geeks also exist (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Denial (Score:3, Interesting)
A better command structure? (Score:3, Interesting)
verb-noun requires less typing
Instead of "search forward left bracket leave mark search forward right bracket ..."
You say "find left bracket change matching", which is the verbal equivalent of "f[c%" in vi.
Not quite "change index", but THAT could be a macro for "f[c%".
Re:Let me be the first to mention Dasher (Score:3, Interesting)
I've been thinking about building a Dasher input device for a long time - I'm thinking of a joystick with a 8" or so LCD to display Dasher. Running Linux, with USB, VGA, and even component video ports to attach to other display devices.
The advantage being, you could use this on multiple systems, without installing hardware. Let the device send standard keyboard codes, and handle the Dasher software inside the device.
Re:Cite please (Score:5, Interesting)
That's also assuming a fixed computer operator base, and not including in new additions (high school interns and recent graduates) and attrition to management (I don't send emails, my secretary does that for me) and retirement.
Being that computers have been heavily in the workplace for say over 20 years, and typewriters for even longer, I'd say the warning should be taken just as seriously as the OSHA training that you get (don't stand on top of a tippy ladder, on one foot, holding live wires, over a puddle while drinking hard liquor and smoking a joint) and the frequently included warning of repetitive stress disorder on keyboards and mice. I particularly enjoyed one training where it was clear that we should go outside once an our and look at things far in the distance, to avoid eye strain. Good luck with taking that many breaks in a day without getting fired. :)
I will admit, I have suffered pain from keyboards. I couldn't grasp anything with my right hand for about 2 days because of typing too much. (don't read anything dirty into that, please). It was on a Friday, so I did almost everything left handed. It was difficult to start my car, and shift gears (ya, I'm in America). Oddly enough, most doorknobs are ambidextrous, and most toilets flush from the left side. :) By Monday, the pain was gone.
I've suffered worse pain from working power tools and hammers. Oddly enough, enough hammering will send some pretty good stress through your hands. It hurts worse if you misjudge your finger to hammer head distance difference. :) I haven't made that mistake in years.
Keyboard stress? Bah. There are a lot of worse pains you can suffer. Unless you drop a server on your head (or have an unbolted rack fall on you), you haven't seen it. I knew one guy who seriously hurt himself because they were moving an enclosed sever cabinet. It started to fall. The guy on one side couldn't do anything (it was falling away from him). The guy on the other side tried to catch it by himself. He lived. He was hurt. He was very much not happy. He did say if it ever happened again, he'd jump out of the damned way. :)
I've learned over the years, lots of people don't know how to judge levels of pain, because they haven't experienced high levels of pain. "Oh my god, this is the worst pain I've ever had" only means you haven't felt worse yet. I've seen grown men cry over stuff that my little daughter (2 years old) shakes off like nothing happened. She hurts herself and I tell her "that doesn't hurt", and she stops crying. Really, it didn't. She was walking barefooted in the house today, and accidentally closed an outside door on her toe. I heard a little noise from her, but that was it. She opened the door, removed her foot, and closed it again without the obstruction. :) It scraped the skin on her toe enough so I know it hurt a little (probably 2 on a scale of 1 to 10). We washed it, doctored her up, and she ran off to play. Later she pointed it out to me and said "owie." She just wanted the attention of it, she wasn't really complaining.
She takes after me though. I've cut myself pretty bad in various ways over the years (I wasn't a gentle child), and doctored myself up without the need to whine about it. No infection, no lost parts, no problem.
I think my finger hurts from flipping people off. Can I get workers comp and a voice operated home theater system? I don't think I can work the remote control without re-injuring myself? :)
Re:Cite please (Score:4, Interesting)
I particularly enjoyed one training where it was clear that we should go outside once an hour and look at things far in the distance, to avoid eye strain. Good luck with taking that many breaks in a day without getting fired. :)
At my shop, I justify it by not taking a lunch. 6 minutes to smoke a cig once an hour, while looking around the landscape * 8 hours = 48 minutes, which means my boss gets an extra 12 minutes a day.
The cig smoking isn't the healthiest part, but it could be easily replaced by walking around the building once or twice. Either way, my boss gets an extra 12 minutes, so he has no cause to complain, and I get no eyestrain after 30 years in front of computers...
Supplementing traditional input methods (Score:3, Interesting)
As someone who's been managing RSI for some time, and still needs to be careful to avoid overdoing it, I'd be very happy for a way to supplement keyboarding and mousing with even limited additional input methods, preferably methods which used a different paradigm altogether.
I've been checking out neural impulse actuators, like the one by OCZ [ocztechnology.com], but it looks like they only provide 2-3 buttons, need recalibrating every time, and are only really supported for gaming. Does anyone know of similarly commercially available hardware? I'm aware of research systems which can control a mouse this way noninvasively, but surely it's time they came out of the labs.
I'm also curious about the long-term effects of devices which detect muscle action. People who migrate to voice recognition can damage their voice from the new strain. Would your face start creasing or cramping after a long time using a device which relies on facial muscles? It seems like some form of non-muscular neural interface is the way to go.
Re:Permanently disabled geeks also exist (Score:4, Interesting)
A relative was born with cerebral palsy which manifested itself as severe control problems, especially with her hands and upper body, including almost unrecognizable speech. She tried a mouse with a large wooden knob, and later a leather strap, but they were pretty frustrating as her control is so limited. Only close friends and family can understand her speech, so voice recognition has never been an option. But her feet are pretty good, so she's learned to manipulate a track-ball with her toe. It takes her a while, but she can get stuff done. ( I have to say being on line is one of the most liberating things that's ever happened to her. I'm glad she found a tool that works. )
Another relative suffered a stroke fifteen years ago, and she has very little use of her right side and mild aphasia since then. She learned to use her left hand, but complex or multitasking instructions are now beyond her. She needs a distraction-free environment in order to function well.
My point is that many disabilities are uncommon or unique. Some disabilities require a physical change to make the interface work -- it's not typically a problem you can solve in software. Others are environmental. So it's hard to find an off-the-shelf solution for any particular problem, as they're not economical to produce in quantity.
Re:Let me be the first to mention Dasher (Score:4, Interesting)
I have been using Dasher for the vast majority of my typing needs for the past year. I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) about two years ago and have slowly lost the use of my left hand and arm during those two years. Dasher is commonly recommended to paraplegic and quadriplegic patients. I know several ALS patients who use it with eyegaze or headmouse setups and love it. It should be usable on any *NIX system that supports GNOME. There are also Windows binaries available.
Another possibility that can be used is an onscreen keyboard with dwell clicking for the mouse and word prediction capability in the keyboard software. I know that both xvkbd and the GNOME onscreen keyboard (GOK) both support word prediction. There are also a couple of projects that have adapted the Dasher word prediction engine into an interface like a telephone keypad that could also be used with dwell-clicking to provide a decent interface. Seems to me one of those projects was called Tapir and the other one was called dKeys.
If anybody becomes interested in this kind of stuff and decides to take on a role in contributing to some of these accessible software projects, you will have the appreciation of hundreds of thousands of disabled users worldwide. Not a bad reward for a little bit of work.
Re:Time, money, expertiese (Score:3, Interesting)
You obviously haven't seen the markup that gets put on computer equipment that qualifies as a medical device. Take a look around on the Dynavox website (www.dynavoxtech.com) and see if any of those gadgets look terribly complicated or difficult to replicate. Then look at the price list. The cheapest gadget (palmtop) goes for $3000+. The laptop-sized device goes for about $8000 unless it has the eyegaze system, which goes for an additional $7000, bringing the total to a cool $15,000 per unit. All covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most major medical insurance.
Re:Permanently disabled geeks also exist (Score:5, Interesting)
My father is an amputee, he lost both his hands when he was about 6. His left arm has about 4 inches after the elbow, and his right ends at the elbow.
In the early 8-bit hobby computing era he gave up his teaching job and started working as an analyst / developer. He types on a normal keyboard by holding a pen between his arms. Sometimes using his left elbow on Shift / Control keys.
However he is far more productive than most of the able bodied developers he works with because he's written so many macros in vim to automate just about everything.
Re:Time, money, expertiese (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Permanently disabled geeks also exist (Score:3, Interesting)
He types on a normal keyboard by holding a pen between his arms.
Having both hands myself, I am curious why he doesn't use some sort of attachment to hold a "pen" on each stump? Is it too much hassle to strap them on each time he wants to sit down and work?
Re:Permanently disabled geeks also exist (Score:4, Interesting)
He has tried prosthetics a couple of times, but they were always more hassle than they were worth. He'd lose tactile feedback and dexterity. Plus these days you need to swap from mouse to keyboard fairly quickly, having a pointing device attached to his arm would probably be more annoying to deal with.
Though talking about my dad in this topic seems a bit unfair. I don't think anyone who's met him would call him disabled. The only things he's incapable of doing by himself are fiddly things he can't reach, like tying a necktie.
Re:Permanently disabled geeks also exist (Score:1, Interesting)
I can't speak for the gentleman programmer above, but as a disabled, amputee geek, I say: if anyone can design an attachment that will securely and comfortably strap a pen to my stump at an angle that works for typing accurately, AND the designer can sell it to me for less than ten bucks, I will buy it, use it, and recommend it to everyone I can find.
In many years of trying, I have not found one that works. It's harder than it looks to attach something to your limb securely without being uncomfortable.
Re::O (Score:3, Interesting)
The article asks for things that are very hard to deliver.
I was disabled in that I for three years, from 1996 to 1999, I couldn't type due to an entrapment of my ulnar nerves in both elbows. This resulted from using two-key combinations in emacs for years, at break-neck speed, and keeping my elbows bent sharply to reach up to a keyboard. My thumbs would swell up to 50% larger than their normal volume, and anything that touched them caused a lot of pain. Driving, washing my hair, and doing shirt buttons all became painful tasks. The doctor measured a nerve speed degradation through my elbows of something like 50%. He recommended disability, as I'm sure most doctors do.
Instead, since I worked for a great employer at the time (Synplicity), I was allowed to spend "whatever you need" to set up an environment at work where I could continue to function as a programmer. I was given a quiet office, and quiet PC (some of them are damned loud!), the best microphones, and speech recognition software - Dragon Dictate at the time, and later Naturally Speaking. I found I could "mouse" with an Alps touchpad, which sometimes I used with my knuckles. That mouse ability was key, as speech control of 2D position still sucked by 1999. I ran emacs under cygwin (which I could use to control Linux boxes when needed), and wrote 1,600 emacs macros over the 3 year period to improve my job efficiency (by voice). The initial version of HDL Analyst was written almost entirely by voice, as was almost all my work over those years. I was able to get my productivity up to about 80% of what I had when I typed, by my best estimates (lines of code/day, etc).
Here's what I found about voice programming.
1 - It's really hard to talk while solving hard programming problems in your head. Try talking to your friend while coding - it sucks. However, voice coding can become mechanical, just like typing, so you don't have to think about it. This feat alone is at least as hard as learning to type, which is one reason I feel voice controlled systems haven't caught on.
2 - Controlling my specific environment eventually took 1,600 custom commands. If you know 1,600 words in a foreign language, you've got decent grasp of it. So, learning to control your environment by voice is about as difficult as learning a foreign language.
3 - Emacs was part of what caused my injury, but also required for the solution! Without emacs, I don't know what I would have done.
4 - My 1,600 macros are a very personal language. Voice programmers try to share our work, but it's not very useful - we just keep trying to teach each other our own unique language.
There is room for improvement. Context sensitive voice programming where commands being recognized know where the cursor is, and the BNF syntax of the format you're editing would be huge.
Now, for what actually "cured" me (I still have to keep typing below a certain limit per day) - I got married and had a daughter. Wherever my baby was, I wanted to be, so I set up a laptop with Naturally Speaking, and followed her around. The keys on the keyboard have less travel, and cushions at the bottom (not all do!). My elbows are straighter. My stress just evaporated every time I looked at my daughter (most RSI injuries happen during high stress periods - after my divorce in my case). One day I noticed that typing the damned password into Windows stopped hurting, and little by little, I regained typing ability.
Unfortunately for me, it turns out I also have a very rare eye problem, and am going slowly blind (it's similar to macular degeneration). Anyone out there still a successful partially blind programmer? This is a field where I would be willing to volunteer while still able to program.