Design for All

In your own words reflect on what we mean when we use the term "handicapped" to refer to a person's abilities? Be specific, create images  and/or activate schema when you write.

Here are some communications devices designed especially to help people with handicaps. How good are they? By studying these devices, what can we learn about the kinds of difficulties people have? I invite you to examine the webpage for one of the devices and leave a marker in this wiki trail (Design for All). I look forward to reading your thoughtful comments  about adaptive devices for the handicapped.

There are a lot of links on this page. Explore the devices on this page (click on them) and leave a marker on the "Design for All" trail  on how well you think the designs meet the needs of the hearing impaired.

Check out these switches. How well do they serve various handicapped people? In the comments area, leave a thoughtful analysis of how you imagine one of these switches to be helpful on a new marker.

These devices are for the visually impaired. How useful do you think these will be? Please check out the links and leave a marker on the device you are reflecting on.

Check out one of these devices and add your analysis of how useful the devices is on a new "Design for All" marker.

In what ways do these devices help to enable those who have handicaps? Please be specific when you leave a mark on the trail to the device you are reviewing.

I think this design is very helpful to those people who are in need of communicating with others but can't do so. People who have speech disorder this is a very handy tool. The only thing that worries me is that because this tool is so small it can get lost or misplaced easily and then the person to whom it belongs to won't be able to communicate with others. I do like the fact that it's battery powered because now the person won't have to worry about having to charge it when there is no charger around. They simply pop the batteries out and pop in new ones. Thjis is a very handy devise.

I think this product can result very useful to anyone who has problems hearing and/or can't hear at all. This device is being sold at a decent price and it is small enough to not take enough space. I like this product for anyone who has hearing problems and I like this product because of the purpose of why it was designed.

this is helpful for a handicapped that has shaky hands because the buttons are big and they would be able to press it easier.

This is helpful because if a person  that has one of these communicators and cant speak they can type what they want to say.

This can help a handicapped because if the person cant see they can hear what  happens.

This is a communication device. I think this site helps people write on a computer, even if they normally have trouble writing as a result of dyslexia and other learning disabilities. I think it predicts the word that the writer is trying to spell, and it has other helpful features as well. For example, it can read the writing out loud so that the writer can review what he/she wrote.

I had never heard of any of these products. They are very creative and they meet the needs of the hearing impaired very well. For example, the alarm clocks not only make beeping sounds, but they shine lights and shake the person's bed to wake them  up. Also the UbiDuo, a  TDD/TTYs,  is very helpful for deaf people to communicate with other deaf or hearing people who don't know sign language. It is like instant messaging someone that you are sitting next to. The amplified telephones and other amplication systems just make things louder, which is helpful for people who are not completely deaf but still hard of hearing.

I think that the sip/puff switch would feel weird and be annoying since it has to go in your mouth. Also, if couldn't use a mouse,because they were paralyzed,  they probably couldn't type either, so they probably wouldn't use a computer anyway. One way that is a better equivalent of a mouse and keyboard is a foot switch, which uses pedals. The sensitive switch is good for weak people that have trouble moving, but I am not sure what there point is. I am also not sure what the general switches do, but at least they are easy to use since they can be activated by pressing anywhere on the big button. The Dual/Multi switches combine devices, which is helpful, and plus they have big buttons for people with poor eye site or Parkinson's disease. The wireless switches are not a certain type of switch, they just help to avoid clutter. The switch interface represent mouse and keyboard functions. They are useful for people with disabilities that affect their movement. I am not really sure what the mounting devices do.