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Presenter(s)
Michael Phillips
AssistiveWare
Tampa, FL
Email: madhatter3112@mac.com
David Niemeijer
AssistiveWare
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Email: d.niemeijer@assistiveware.com
In this session, participants will learn how switch users can achieve remarkable levels of computer productivity and use regular software such as MS Office, Photoshop, and Safari when actual, rather than perceived needs of switch users are addressed in access software. The session will be of interest to any computer user with a disability, parent of a child with a disability and AT specialist interested in computer access for people with severe physical impairments. The objective of the session is that participants become aware of the abilities of switch users and gain insight in how the process of interactive software development can help creating better adapted access software.
Mike was 14 when he first started using a switch. It was back in 1994 and he used a PowerBook 180 running Mac OS 7.5. No-one told him what he could or could not do with a switch. That was his luck and the beginning of a journey of exploration. He learned to use Photoshop and Bryce, to write with Word and he fell in love with games. By 1997 he was writing reviews of computer games for Mac game sites. Then in 2001, Apple introduced Mac OS X and soon the latest and hottest games were only available for Mac OS X. By 2002, Mike was desperate, there was no sign that the switch-access software he had been using would become available on Mac OS X any time soon.
David was 16 when he first started developing software for the Mac. It was back in 1984, just after the Mac was first introduced. Then in 1996 a friend of his had a serious car accident and became paralyzed from the neck down. He was a photographer and graphic designer and found that the then available on-screen keyboards did not have the features he needed for manipulating Photoshop. This is when David became involved in developing assistive technology software. He first developed KeyStrokes on-screen keyboard for mouse and head pointer users. In late 2002, he started work on SwitchXS and through Apple was introduced to Mike.
That was when things really started to take off. Mike could finally get all the feature he always wanted and David had someone who pushed him to go to the max with speed and game compatibility. SwitchXS got a host of features that would never have been there if Mike and other switch users located throughout the world had not had direct access through email and chat to David right from the very early alpha versions to the final release version. Each user continues to contribute different suggestions as SwitchXS further develops to meet the needs of more and more types of scanners. The session will give ample examples and Mike will demonstrate the kinds of things he is able to do thanks to his computer.
The session will contribute to a different way of thinking about switch users' abilities and about what computer access is really all about.
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