Years ago, one of our clients came down with multiple sclerosis. It was a shocker to us all. Never would we have thought that this guy would get it. There was nothing wrong with him, except for his movements. He could, in theory, still work the computer at the shop. So we were asked to help.
We immediately investigated the voice control software which his carer decided on Dragon. Then made many changes to our software to help. It was a limited help. It was not easy for him to use all the controls he required.
Little then did we realise that we had fallen into the field of Assistive Technology (AT). AT helps people with disability overcome difficulties to use computers.
Nor did we realise how big a problem it is, today. Approximately 18% of our community has some form of disability. As a computer does not involve physical work, sometimes we can get them productive on a computer. Often not 100% but 50% which is infinitely better than zero.
Also, it is a great feeling when you see how some people with a disability that cannot do something now can.
What has proven a revolution in this part of Assistive Technology (AT), for us has been the improvements in the mouse controls systems! This was not available ten (10) years ago when we started. Using this and Dragon, today I think we can get many such people to almost 100% on our software. Here check out this video.
