The Anonymous Widower

I’ve Got A New Keyboard

My eyesight is not as good as it was, so I have called in the experts.

The RNIB recommended this keyboard with large yellow keys.

At a price of just over thirty pounds it seems to make a lot of difference to my typing.

It was bought from the RNIB web site.

To install it, I just shut down the computer, swapped the keyboards and restarted the computer.

These are some thoughts on the use of these keyboards.

Typing Accuracy

I’ve been using the keyboard for about three hours now and I’ve only made one mistake.

Last week, I was typing garbage all the time.

Should Every Office Have A Keyboard Like This?

I have  four minor eyesight and keyboard problems, so I am probably a special case.

• My first eye-test was done by a retired eye doctor of many years experience, who said, I’d got the driest eyes he’d ever seen.
• Because of the dryness, I have a bath every day and put my head under the hot water for perhaps five minutes every morning, when I get up.
• The school bully broke my left humerus, so I usually type with just my right hand and look down on the keyboard.
• My mother went blind from macular degeneration, so I’m worried about the same happening to me.

The keyboard certainly seems to improve my typing.

From what I’ve learned in the last few hours, at least the knowledge of these keyboards and where to get them should be in every office.

Customer Data Entry

I have solar panels on my roof and I have to enter how much electricity, I’ve generated every few months.

Although, I have problems reading the meter, I have no problems entering the values into the Internet.

But I can envisage some data entry, where one of these keyboards would help, when the customer in reporting their readings or energy usage.

Perhaps someone should devise a large screen smart meter for solar panels? I certainly need one!

Medical And Other Research

I am involved in medical research as a lab-rat.

In two cases, I have been asked to use a computer.

• At Moorfields Eye Hospital they were testing a new instrument that had been designed by one of the London Universities, to test a particular ocular function, that used a keyboard worked by the patient.
• At the University of East London, I used a computer to test my balance as part of stroke research.

Using a yellow keyboard might remove bias in the research, against bad typists.

High Pressure Typing Jobs

How many people have to retire from high pressure jobs with a lot of typing, because there eyes aren’t up to it?

Could the thirty pounds for one of these keyboards allow people to work productively longer?

The keyboard my help someone to return to work earlier after an eye operation.

Coeliacs like me are prone to cataracts and I’m pretty certain, that the keyboard would have helped my recovery.

Public Keyboards

I haven’t come across more that one or two public keyboards in say a GP’s surgery or an optician’s, where the patient has been asked to use a computer for a test.

But I do believe this type of testing will happen more often.

Using a yellow keyboard might remove bias in the test , against bad typists.

Digital Disparities Among Healthcare Workers

This paper in the BMJ is entitled Digital Disparities Among Healthcare Workers In Typing Speed Between Generations, Genders, And Medical Specialties:Cross Sectional Study.

Surely, the title suggests a problem. But does that problem exist in similar or different patterns across other professions?

More Research needs to be done.

Conclusion

With a small amount of innovation, the blind and those with failing eyesight should be able to use computers and smart devices as easily as sighted people.

December 28, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Computing, Health | Eyesight, Innovation, Keyboard, Medical Research, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Smart Meter | 2 Comments