RESEARCHING CUSTOM KEYBOARD OVERLAYS FOR DISABLED COMPUTER USERS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DESIGN A FEASIBILITY STUDY THAT WILL CENTER ON THE NEEDS OF DISABLED PEOPLE AND THEIR ABILITY TO USE A COMPUTER TO LEARN MATH SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING IN SCHOOL. THE STUDY WILL FOCUS ON COMPUTER KEYBOARDS AND THEIR USEFULNESS TO DISABLED STUDENTS. THE STUDY WILL DETERMINE WHETHER IT IS FEASIBLE TO RESEARCH CUSTOM KEYBOARD OVERLAYS FOR ALTERNATIVE, MEMBRANE KEYBOARDS. THE RESEARCH IN THIS STUDY WILL APPLY THE HUMAN PERFORMANCE MODEL TO STUDY THE DEGREE TO WHICH DISABLED AND ABLE-BODIED STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM USING ALTERNATIVE, MEMBRANE COMPUTER KEYBOARDS WITH CUSTOM-DESIGNED OVERLAYS. RESEARCHERS WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY TO STUDY THE USERS' ABILITY TO PHYSICALLY, COGNITIVELY, AND VISUALLY ACCESS SCIENCE, MATH, AND WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE THROUGH THE ALTERNATIVE KEYBOARD INTERFACE. THE GOAL OF THE STUDY IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER ONE CAN ISOLATE THE FACTORS THAT HELP DISABLED PEOPLE USE COMPUTERS WITH LESS ERRORS, GREATER SPEED, AND GREATER EASE. THE STUDY WILL TAKE PLACE IN A COOPERATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT WHERE DISABLED STUDENTS STUDY ALONG WITH ABLE-BODIED PEERS. THE STUDY WILL INVOLVE USING APPLE IIGS,MACINTOSH, AND IBM COMPUTERS WITH A NEW MEMBRANE KEYBOARD PRODUCT DEVELOPED BY UNICORN ENGINEERING, INC.