Specialised Keyboards

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Specialised keyboards are designed to provide comfortable and efficient input to computers for people who have the use of only one hand, or strain related injuries that make the standard computer keyboards difficult to use. They can also be of use for people who need to keep one hand free for using another device such as a mouse.

Two models are available, the MALTRON SINGLE-HANDED KEYBOARD and the B.A.T. KEYBOARD. The MALTRON and BAT keyboards are radically different in design, but achieve broadly similar ends. They are both PORTABLE, ie they can be plugged directly into a computer keyboard socket and are then ready to go, with no software required. So the same keyboard can be used from office to office, or between office and home. There are models for both the IBM PC and Macintosh computer standards. Both ranges also come with manuals and tutorials, in print form and on audio-cassette.

Both types of keyboard require re-learning and practice for those people who are familiar with the QWERTY layout, but the total learning time investment for both is probably about the same - between 2 and 20 hours.

So, what are the differences, and what can they each do?
First of all, the MALTRON left or right handed keyboard.
The MALTRON is a cube shaped keyboard, with one side scooped deeply in its middle. This “scoop” is where the keys are positioned, with the centre being where the home keys “E” and “T” are located, right under the middle fingers. Most of the alphabet keys are placed in “trenches” of different depth to suit the different length of fingers (index, ring and so on) being used, and the letters are arranged on a frequency basis - ie the most commonly used English letters are placed closest to the centre of the scoop, minimising finger movement.

Important keys like the Spacebar and Enter keys are located under the thumb for easy access. The number pad is similar to that on an ordinary keyboard, and located away from the scoop on a flat platform. Combination keystrokes are made possible by the use of a “sticky key” procedure - for example if you want to press the “CTRL B” combination, press first the CTRL key (which ‘sticks’ temporarily) then the ‘B’ key. The MALTRON single-handed keyboard is being used by many people across Australia and the United Kingdom, and some of these people achieve typing speeds of up to 60 words per minute.

The BAT keyboard uses a completely different approach to key entry. Instead of having a key for every letter of the alphabet, punctuation characters and so on, it instead uses a code based on four keys in combination with three shift keys. Blind people who use Braille note-takers like the BrailleMate or Braille ‘n Speak will be familiar with this method of composing letters, though the coding systems are totally different. The coding system for the BAT was painstakingly devised by Dr. Daniel Gopher over ten years to be as efficient as possible given the relative strengths of each finger, and an alphabetic pattern that is intuitive and easy to learn.
All of the characters on a conventional “extended” keyboard are coded plus many more. The BAT keyboard is also programmable - there is optional software that allows you to attach macro sequences to key combinations. These are stored in the BAT, and thus are portable between computers.
PROS and CONS
  • Whilst the MALTRON doesn’t require you to learn an arbitrary code, BAT is initially easier to get up to speed with than MALTRON because the fingers rest directly on all the keys, and you don’t have to look at the keyboard to find the key you want. This could be of benefit to vision impaired people. However, just as for people learning to touch-type with a standard QWERTY keyboard, with practise people do not need to look at the keys, and the MALTRON keyboard is no different in this respect - in fact it will be easier because of the highly differentiated trenches, which guide the fingers.
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  • Because MALTRON requires only one keystroke per letter (whereas BAT requires a combination of fingers) the eventual typing speed of the MALTRON is quicker - up to 60 words per minute, whereas the BAT is about 40-50.
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  • BAT is smaller than the MALTRON keyboard, which may have a bearing on portability - however, both keyboards are very lightweight.
  • BAT can have an ordinary QWERTY keyboard plugged into it. This means that you might use a BAT and mouse combination for some of your work (eg graphic design) and then use the keyboard for longer text entry, eg a wordprocessor. This feature might also be of use where two people use the same computer.
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  • BAT is about half the price of the MALTRON

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