You Need
When email is the mail…
For Gladys, discovering email made it
possible for her to communicate with her family who have moved to Australia.
Her deteriorating eyesight made it very difficult for her to hand write
successfully, so when Gladys saw the possibilities emails offered, there was no
stopping her!
Fortunately she was already attending a VIP group at the Lillington UK online centre. This was a session offering specialised computer access for adults with a visual impairment and with the support of the staff and the strength of the attendees themselves, this was becoming an established and growing group. The centre had received the specially adapted equipment to offer additional access from the DFES project earlier this year and although they were finding it difficult to finance enough suitable software, they were using the IntelliKeys overlay keyboard and Big Keys to really good advantage for members of this group.
Gladys was one of the first to use the overlay keyboard and with the qwerty overlay and a large font she was in writing business!
"I am not fast but I am getting there!" she said.
The staff would help with connecting to the Internet and then Gladys could send, and of course receive, email.
She was also eager to try the Big Keys
keyboard after seeing another lady in the group use it (this lady was delighted
with the computer access this offered her). The high visibility large keys were
ideal for Gladys who said: "I could really get practising finding the letters
with one of these."
Gladys is no stranger to writing. She writes poems and has had them published in a number of Warwickshire publications. She has one person who can decipher her handwriting but obviously she likes to be able to see what she is writing!
Gladys lives in a sheltered housing complex that has a computer in its common room and three in the hobby room. They are also discussing the next step - an Internet connection. Of these computers only two can support this and one is a very sleek and fashionable black machine. A black keyboard looks good but is not the easiest to see for Gladys! She found it too difficult to pick out any letters on the keyboard. Inclusive Technology heard the story and offered to donate a Big Keys for the residents. This was greeted by Gladys and other residents with much enthusiasm.
It is now in place and after a 'Cookies and Computers' session, the residents are looking at ways to make best use of their computers. Now that they have a friendly keyboard they feel far more inclined not just to play the card games! Gladys said, "Even typing what I want to find on the Internet will be easy for me now!"
As with all good stories, there is a 'what happened next'. Sure enough, Gladys has been writing again! She has been inspired to write her memories of the War for the BBC, who are inviting people to go to their library and write up their personal stories. Gladys has some tales to write and has done some of the typing to record them.
The sheltered accommodation hobby room is going to have its Internet connection in the near future and the residents are looking forward to emailing, shopping, pursuing hobbies and interests such as genealogy, art and music as well as taking advantage of online computer tutorials!
When this is in place, Gladys will be emailing from the comfort of her own home and is keen that they get some help and support to extend their skills and make sure the machines are all used properly.
I wonder if Inclusive Technology envisaged the story that is unfolding following their gift of the Big Key keyboard?
Maggie Wagstaff
15th September 2003