28 February 2024
It has recently been reported that computer tech giant Lenovo is making accessibility improvements to the keyboards on their new laptops.
Lenovo has worked with students with vision impairments from the Governor Moorhead School in America to discover what changes they can adapt on laptop keyboards to make them easier to use.
Lenovo refers to their minor enhancements as tactile representations.
They plan to incorporate tactile representations onto the Insert key, typically located adjacent to the Delete key.
(this is welcome for 'Jaws' and 'NVDA' screen user .)
The Insert key serves as a modifier key for numerous screen reader users, facilitating various common keystrokes with screen reading software.
Tactile representations will be added to the Function key beside the Windows key, and on the Enter key.
They will be also added to the volume up and down keys. So, as you can see, these tactile markings are put on many of the keys that we would have commonly put bump-ons on over the years.
(However, they have left out our guide keys and for touch Typists this is the 'F' and the 'J' keys!)
This is a welcome initiative from Lenovo who have had some new input on this from the Microsoft accessibility team.
Microsoft themselves have done some great work in this area, recently providing an adaptive kit for some of their laptops which includes stickers and a stand to make them easier to use for different disabilities.
Lenovo is also getting ready to make big product announcements about AI in the coming year.
They announced several connections at the CES electronics show such as a partnership with the Scott Morgan Foundation and Deep Brain AI which will improve the lives of those with severe disabilities.
They demonstrated the hyper-realistic avatar which optimises text prediction and output and helps preserve the voice, personality, and physical mannerisms of someone with a degenerative disease.
Even small changes such as tactile representations will make a big difference to the life of a vision-impaired or blind computer user.
Source: VI EI