Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display peripheral interface input device – Including keyboard
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-29
2001-10-30
Liang, Regina (Department: 2674)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display peripheral interface input device
Including keyboard
C341S022000, C400S485000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06310608
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer system design, and more particularly to configuration of a keyboard to make a computer more accessible for disabled users.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
The personal computer (PC) is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in workplace and home environments. More and more people are therefore becoming PC users. The most common means of user interaction with a PC are the keyboard and the mouse. Such interaction is often mediated by a program interface called a graphical user interface (GUI). A GUI typically includes a representation of computer-based entities including programs, files, and commands in a graphical form on a display screen. In most cases the user interacts with a program or operating system through the GUI by selecting and/or moving objects on the screen using a mouse or other pointing device. Use of a GUI can make interaction with a program or operating system more intuitive than use of a command interface in which specific commands are typed in by the user. This may be true particularly in the case of relatively inexperienced users, because the user is freed from having to learn specific commands.
Although use of a mouse to interact with computer applications is simple and intuitive for many, manipulation of a mouse can be difficult for users having certain disabilities. Various conditions, such as cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, or arthritis, can interfere with the manual motor control needed to use a mouse to move a pointer to a specific location on a display screen. Such movement of a pointer is often required, for example, in selecting options such as “yes”, “no”, “save” or “cancel” in response to queries from an application program or operating system. Use of a GUI can therefore be extremely difficult for users with impaired motor control. A “disabled user” as used herein refers to a keyboard user having such an impairment of manual motor control.
In many operating systems, some alternatives to mouse use are available in the form of particular keys on the keyboard which are assigned to certain answers to queries encountered when using a GUI. For example, the “Enter” key on a keyboard may typically be used to select the “default” response to a query. The default response is often represented on the display screen as a “button” surrounded by a thicker border than the buttons corresponding to other possible responses. In addition, the “escape” key may often be used to select a “cancel” response. Such key mappings are convenient for users who prefer less movement of a hand away from the keyboard, and may be helpful to some disabled users. Unfortunately, many users who lack the motor control needed to use a mouse may also have difficulty in using a finger to select a particular keyboard key.
Some specialized keyboards and other entry devices are available which provide larger keys for disabled users. Such devices can be expensive, however, and inconvenient for use on a computer shared with conventional keyboard users. It would therefore be desirable to develop a system and method to allow more effective use of a computer keyboard by disabled users.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems outlined above are in large part addressed by a system and method for grouping together multiple adjacent keys on a keyboard to form compound keys, each of the compound keys include multiple single keys and a footprint of the totality of multiple single keys are therefore larger than a single key. Each compound key beneficially carries out a single input command, task, function or equivalents thereof. The arrangement of the keyboard into compound keys may take many forms. For example, on keyboards having function keys arranged in groups of four, the function keys “F
1
” through “F
4
” may be grouped together as one key, with “F
5
” through “F
8
” forming a second key, and “F
9
” through “F
12
” forming a third key. In such an embodiment, actuating any of the keys “F
1
” through “F
4
” would result in the same input to the operating system or application program. Such a group of keys could be assigned to a response such as “yes”, “enter”, or “cancel”. As another example, the alphabetic keys could be divided into two groups, with one side of the keyboard corresponding to a “yes” response while the other side corresponds to a “no” response. Alternatively, smaller groups of keys could be assigned to particular letters. For example, actuation of the “E” key and/or some of the keys surrounding it could result in an input of the letter “E” to the operating system or application program. The alphabetic keys could in this way be grouped into a reduced number of larger alphabetic keys. A separate group of keys (e.g., the numeric keypad) may be used to toggle between different arrangements of these larger alphabetic keys, so that all letters may be accessed. A representation of the keyboard illustrating the key groupings active at a particular time and the input corresponding to each grouping may be displayed on the computer's display screen. Alternatively, a template laid over the keyboard may be used to indicate the compound key groupings, particularly for applications in which the grouping does not change during the performance of a task.
This grouping of the keyboard keys into compound keys into compound keys is believed to be advantageous to the operation of a keyboard by disabled users. A compound key may be actuated by pressing one or more of the keys within the compound key. The compound keys may be made significantly larger than conventional keyboard keys, so that a user with limited mobility or dexterity may more easily send the appropriate keyboard input or command. In the case of configurations having very large compound keys, for example, simply brushing a hand against the keyboard may be sufficient to produce an appropriate response to a query from a program. Because a conventional computer keyboard may be used, the computer may be shared with conventional keyboard users by reconfiguring the keyboard so that the keys are no longer grouped into compound keys. In this way, disabled users may be accommodated without a requirement for a separate specialized keyboard.
The compound key formation is preferably implemented by assigning a code generated when a particular keyboard key is actuated to a specific command (such as a character or response) to be sent to a program operating on the computer. The assignment of multiple key codes to a single specific command causes the corresponding group of multiple keys to act as a compound key. This assignment may be performed in any of several ways, such as through a keyboard device driver stored in the memory of the computer, through the computer's basic input/output system (BIOS), or within an operating system or application program running on the computer.
A method for using the keyboard configuration system described above is also contemplated. An appropriate input command, such as an answer to a query from a program running on the computer, is identified. The compound key corresponding to this input command is then identified, and one or more of the keyboard keys grouped within this compound key is actuated, such that the appropriate input command is sent to the program. Identification of the compound key corresponding to the desired input command may be accomplished with the help of a keyboard guide, such as a representation of the keyboard on the computer's display screen, or a template overlying the keyboard, as described above. The method may also include actuation of a compound key used to toggle between keyboard configurations. For example, in an embodiment for which the alphabetic keys are “enlarged” by grouping the keys surrounding a particular letter key with that key to form a compound key representing that letter, a reduced number of letter keys are available on the keyboard. Use of multiple ke
Kaply Michael Aaron
Rodriguez Herman
Smith, Jr. Newton James
Conley & Rose & Tayon P.C.
Daffer Kevin L.
International Business Machines Corp.
Liang Regina
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