Disability/Accessibility Computer Software

Sometimes when you develop a disability you find that operating your computer equipment can suddenly become a bit of a challenge. I'm not talking about the general day to day stuff that all computer users face. I'm talking about the quirk's that seem to get in our way when you have arthritis in your hands, or only one hand to use where you need the assistance of lowering your keystrokes to keep up with the "Jones". Adaptive software is out there on the net that may assist you in reducing the amount of work it takes for some of us to be online.

If you are a MacIntosh user you might like to explore a excellent site set up by Scott Norris called MacIntosh Disability Freeware and Shareware . Scott has obviously taken a great deal of time to compile an excellent one-stop shopping resource list for disabled Mac users. If you are a PC user do stop by as well as some of the programs that he has gathered have PC versions and you might find exactly what you are looking for!

Your next stop might be Microsoft's Accessibility Homepage. There you can explore what Bill Gates has his many minions working on to help those of us with challenges that need to be faced.

Yet another location to visit would be the best Free/Shareware Software shop on the net! Tucows has some excellent downloads in it's "Macro's and Automation" Section Now those of you new to computer might not know what a Macro accomplishes. A Macro is a short cut key that you can train your computer to recognize. So instead of typing out a line of command or comment you can set up a Macro to type those details for you. This can cut down on your keystrokes considerably. Tucows cow rating system/program descriptions makes it easy to pick out the programs you might feel would be useful in your particular application.

Bookmarking all of these sites might be beneficial as software technology is changing daily. I suspect there will be an increase in disability/accessibility technology in the near future due to the upcoming Federally legislative changes pending. This will benefit the online disability world in ways that I'm sure we never imagined!

Suite 101 Disability Mailing List

For those of you who need a gentle reminder when a new article is posted, or would like to be notified when a new link is put up, I have developed a notification e-mail list which would have you receiving three to four more e-mails a month. If you want to be put on this mailing list, just click on my EMAIL link at the top of this page and drop me a line with your e-mail address and I would be happy to add you. You don't have to be a member of Suite101 for this service.

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