Hi Neil,
This really is a tough one. I'm assuming that the client in question has both sensory (i.e. visual) as well as physical disabilities. We've used Mulitiweb in the past, which is a bit out of date now as far as the latest internet technologies are concerned. It works quite well however, with some very basic web sites.
With one of our (later stage) MS clients, I am currently trialling JAWS in conjunction with IExplorer and a Handsoff grid (incorporating synthetic speech feedback and two switch scanning) set up for use with IExplorer and MS Outlook. This system works okay while Handsoff is running, but the software seems a bit too prone to crashing for my liking. I have tried other more stable on-screen scanning keyboards but Handsoff is the only one I've come across so far that doesn't conflict with JAWS. I found that the whole system can become incredibly confusing for the client with single switch scanning when they are relying on every auditory cue to tell them whats going on on the screen. So if you can find another switch site, making use of it can dramatically reduce frustration and confusion. However, if you can't, another useful feature of Handsoff is the single switch stepped scan.
Another option of course, is making up your own scanning grids from scratch with the help of SAW from the ACE centre. This software is definitely more stable (from my experience) and much more flexible in that you can better customise the grid and scanning options for the individual's requirements. However, it does take considerably longer to set-up/alter and may still conflict with JAWS. However, with your experience with VB you may quickly find ways of overcoming these problems. THis is probably going to be my next port of call with this client if I continue having more problems with Handsoff.
Regards,
Aejaz Zahid
Clinical Scientist
SYC-HAZ Clinical Engineering Service
Barnsley DGH NHS Trust
Tel: 01226-730000 x2159
Fax: 01226-208159
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Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 4:00 PM
To: p=NHS NATIONAL INT;a=NHS;c=GB;dda:RFC-822=ASSISTECH(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK;
Subject: Single Switch Auditory Internet Access
Hi,
I have tough criteria for this one! We are looking for some internet access software that will cope with single switch access for navigation, but with the prompting being spoken out by the computer. It would also be nice for the browser to cope with new technology (e.g. Javascript, secure HTML) and probably also email (I guess this could be done within a browser - e.g. Hotmail).
Does anybody have any experience so far with this set of complex needs. I think there is some technology available (MultiWeb), but it is not specific enough for my clients needs at present.
Thanks,
Neil Gregory
Clinical Engineer
Access to Communication and Technology
West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre
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Tel. UK 0121-627 8235
Fax. UK 0121-627 8892
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