Cost of AT devices

» snwight - Are "palmtops" an option?

I'm a software engineer that has a strong interest in getting involved in hardware and software AT solutions. I know quite a number of people with CP (through the CP Center of the East Bay in Oakland, CA) that are using various kinds of laptops and desktop systems, primarily for communication. The devices are as varied as their owners, of course! Some are much more succesful than others as well. Some just simply do not work, generally because of a mismatch between the technology and the consumer - a familiar tale.

Sorry for rambling. My question is simple: are the "new breed" of palmtops and handhelds being utilised? Newton, Palm, Nino, Casio, Psion, HP, etc, are some of the more familiar brands. It strikes me that generally speaking these machines have great possibilities due to cost, size, integrated character and gesture recognition (well... almost), and interconnectvity.

Thanks for the bandwidth, and the very impressive website, Denise!

-steve

-- posted by snwight

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» toetype - Are "palmtops" an option?

Steve:

I don't think palm devices had been explored much as an option for individuals with disabilities. I have been considering a Palm III, IV, or VII myself lately. If these devices had speech output abilities, I would definately have one! One difficulty is that the imput methods, typing on a small on-screen keyboard with a stylus would be hard for many of us. I am not sure about learning "graffiti" either.

I think I would have more accuracy with one of the slightly larger devices with a real keyboard, but they are almost as much as a low-end laptop.

These devices are currently inaccessible to those with vision impairments also, due to the lack of speech output.

Any ideas?
Is anyone out there with significant physical disabilities using a PDA?

Denise

-- posted by toetype

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