TOPH | Adaptive Keyboard for Visually Impaired

aid devices blind keyboard interchangeable computer equipment typing visual impaired person with disability computer keyboard smart gadget

Designer: Ahmad Zufar Hazim Ahmad Safari

Project: Final Year Degree Project

Year: 2018

Project Title: Product Design for Person With Disability (PWD)

ADAPTIVE TYPING KEYBOARD FOR BLIND PEOPLE

TOPH is an adaptive typing keyboard that was designed for blind/ visually impaired people. This keyboard featured interchangeable QWERTY and classic T9 keyboard layout. This keyboard was mainly designed for typing works by professional braille user and also perhaps for non-braille user who know nothing about braille system. Plus, this keyboard also featured the built-in speech synthesizer which can read on essential information that displayed on-screen and then any other features that can assist the blind user with the input and output of the digital information. Apart from its main target user whose blind people, this keyboard was also made to suit the commercial pattern which makes it user friendly as well to normal people.

Interchangeable - Texting ⇌ Typing

Settings

User Experience Flowchart

Moodboard

Development Sketches

Dimensions

Prototype Making

3D Printed Final Prototype

BACKGROUND STUDY

In this advanced society, all the members of disable society have the right to get the same spot as equal as normal people in order to success in life. While dealing with many limitation, smartphone and computer is still the only choice for blind people to get the most possible intact with these modernization. Disable people still need to carry out texting, assignment and any other typing works for living. The study questioned what are the highlighted issues when the visually impaired people interacts with the computing equipment to get the access of the digital information. This study focused on the blind user behavior on the computer keyboard as the main subject. The accuracy and efficiency of the input and output data is the main concerned since blind people cannot see everything that displayed on the computer screen like what normal human being can do. Plus, their typing would likely be spoiled with numerous errors compare to normal people.

BRAILLE PRACTITIONER IS BIGGER THAN LIFE IN MALAYSIA

1. The concernness for blind people to practice Braille is declining from year to years in Malaysia. They always prefer to use conventional keyboard instead of special braille keyboard for some reason. They found its more conventional for them to use same reading system like normal people.

2. The assisting technology for blind to get the output and input corrected is only by using speech synthesizer. The existing speech synthesizer technology is still a long way to reach perfection since its only can read partially what displayed on the screen.

3. The keyboard in the market is only made for single purpose whereabouts the blind people found it difficult to keep interchange between the devices; conventional keyboard cant be use for texting message via smartphone.