One handed UNIX, Emacs for disabled person?

[Leila Burrell-Davis]

In reply to the query:
> Hello.  Has anybody got ideas for using mainframe UNIX or computers in
> general for a disabled person with use of only the right hand?

pepke at gw.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) writes:
>
> I remember from the early days of microcomputers, when real programmers
> used toggle switches and keyboards were outrageously expensive, there was
> a one-handed ASCII keyboard.  It was a sphere with four finger buttons and
> eight thumb buttons.  One was supposed to play a chord with the fingers,
> giving eight bits, and then press one of the thumb buttons, giving three
> more.  It was attractive to a lot of people because the small number of
> moving parts made it cheap.

There is/was a device available in the UK (and maybe elsewhere)
called a MicroWriter. It's actually a computer with built in word
processing software, a tiny LCD display and a serial port. The
keyboard is laid out in a hand shape, with one key for each finger
and two for the thumb, and characters are input by pressing chords.
The pattern of chords is quite easy to learn as it bears a
relationship to the shape of the characters.

The machine can be used as a standalone word processor, after a
fashion, or else used to input data which can later be transferred
to another machine (very handy to use on the train). In addition,
I've heard of it being used as an alternative input device to the
BBC Micro (once ubiquitous in UK schools), so it might be possible
to connect it to a terminal or PC type machine.

I don't know if the MicroWriter is still available, but if anyone is
interested, email me and I'll have a hunt around for the name of the
company.

Leila
-- 
Leila Burrell-Davis, Computing Service, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Tel:   +44 273 678390              Fax:   +44 273 678470
Email: leilabd at syma.sussex.ac.uk  (JANET: leilabd at uk.ac.sussex.syma)