Text entry from power wheelchairs: edgewrite for joysticks and touchpads

  • Authors:
  • Jacob O. Wobbrock;Brad A. Myers;Htet Htet Aung;Edmund F. LoPresti

  • Affiliations:
  • Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA;A.T. Sciences, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA

  • Venue:
  • Assets '04 Proceedings of the 6th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

Power wheelchair joysticks have been used to control a mouse cursor on desktop computers, but they offer no integrated text entry solution, confining users to point-and-click or point-and-dwell with on-screen keyboards. But on-screen keyboards reduce useful screen real-estate, exacerbate the need for frequent window management, and impose a second focus of attention. By contrast, we present two integrated gestural text entry methods designed for use from power wheelchairs: one for joysticks and the other for touchpads. Both techniques are adaptations of EdgeWrite, originally a stylus-based unistroke method designed for people with tremor. In a preliminary study of 7 power wheelchair users, we found that touchpad EdgeWrite was faster than joystick WiVik, and joystick EdgeWrite was only slightly slower after minimal practice. These findings reflect "walk up and use"-ability and warrant further investigation into extended use.