Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing, or other special needs!
As I mentioned in a couple of blogs last month, using an ergonomic keyboard can help prevent a repetitive strain injury (or RSI) in individuals who type a lot. An RSI refers to damage to your muscles, tendons, or nerves caused by repetitive motions and constant use. They’re also sometimes called repetitive stress injuries.
Repetitive strain injuries are very common and usually affect your:
- Fingers and thumbs
- Elbows
- Wrists
- Arms
- Shoulders
- Knees
Another example of an ergonomic keyboard is the ErgoDox EZ. If you want the most adjustable and customizable ergonomic keyboard available and don’t mind paying more and dealing with a relatively difficult learning curve, the ErgoDox EZ is a good choice!
According to its website:
“With a truly split layout, the ErgoDox EZ allows you to position each half where it makes sense to you. Typing at shoulder width allows you to keep your chest open and instantly leads to a more relaxed posture. No more hunching over the keyboard…”
Features include:
- Choose your own key switches and swap them out anytime
- A powerful graphical configurator you can try before you buy
- Columnar layout: For improved typing comfort
- Open-source: One of the first keyboards to use QMK firmware
- Open-source firmware lets you remap keys and modify the backlight to your liking
- “Reliable: A workhorse that keeps going for years”
- 2-year warranty
- And more!
Visit ergodox-ez.com to learn more!
For more information, to read our blog, or to drop us a line, visit EasterSealsTech.com.
I’d like to take a moment to thank InTRAC, the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation for sponsoring our transcript today. You can find out more about InTRAC at relayindiana.com.
That was your Accessibility Minute for this week! I’m Laura Medcalf with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads, in Indiana.