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Big Keys… a route to the electronic highway!
Gladys, who has been using accessibility equipment at her local UK online centre, is now surfing and emailing from home with the help of a Big Keys keyboard.
Gladys had an early setback, however. The
black keyboard on the hobby room's computer was impossible for her to see
because of her failing eyesight. If you can't see the keyboard, operating the
computer is like driving a car without a steering wheel!
With the help of a Big Keys keyboard from Inclusive Technology, a computer that was used irregularly for playing games has now become a really accessible work horse.
Gladys and the other residents now also have access to the internet, which has opened up a host of opportunities.
Maggie Wagstaff of Becta ran a computers and cookies session for any interested residents, where their needs and computing desires were discussed and some of the possibilities demonstrated. One resident was very interested in being able to access information and look at local events and find partners to play scrabble with on the web. They were all very impressed with the visibility and accessibility of Big Keys.
The residents' skills were soon tested when a regular line dancing event was photographed using a digital camera. They had fun loading the pictures onto the computer so that they could be viewed by everyone and printed out.
Gladys was very eager to get emailing from home. Previously, discovering email had helped her keep in touch with relatives in Australia. Now, she could enjoy regular updates from her grandson who was travelling the world. She can also keep up with family news and is so pleased to be able to practise her typing and send and receive emails from home.
So, from her fortunate access to some specialist equipment at a UK online centre, Gladys has gone on to prove that it is never too late to begin exploring the internet. In fact, now she is on the electronic highway, she has heard that broadband is a lot faster! So where will she be speeding next?
Gladys' story is kindly supplied by Maggie Wagstaff.