Input: Best keyboards for arthritic fingers

5-28-2014 | Daniel1212

[daniel1212]

I am interested in getting a soft touch keyboard, with keys that are raised and separate enough that I do not easily hit the wrong key, which I am very prone to do, and wondered if any FReepers have any suggestions. Under 25.00 would be preferable.

The problem is that my fingers have become increasingly stiff over the years, and so they do not move independently well or fast, or precisely hit what i want, and therefore I often hit the wrong key that i want to press, usually resulting in multiple typos in every sentence, thus making typing slow. This issue prevents anchor my hands on the keyboard, and touch typing is difficult. (Yet using a hammer, catching footballs, etc. is not a problem, thank God.)

So I thought maybe a soft touch keyboard with "normal" raised keys could help. I am using a Acer KU-1112 (pictured which i got new for 5.00 with this PC, vs the 25.00 they want at link), but they keys are so low it is easy to press two at once.

And before anyone asks, i do not know what kind of arthritis (out of about 100 kinds i guess) this is, but it is not painful, nor do i have any bumps and nodules around joints. Just stiffness that is less when my hands are warmer.

My dad evidently had the same, which forced him to retire after about 40 years as a welder, and i used for work in freezers and with ice cream for many years, which likely did not help.

I have tried speech to text software, Dragon (hate the name: Rv. 16:13) 11.5, which does work to a degree, but it leaves much to be desired.

Any viable suggestions are welcome.

[daniel1212]

Dragon Naturally Speaking has to be spoken to by the user. The user has to ‘speak’ to the program for hours so that it can learn the user’s accent. Did you do that?

Yes, even did extra training. And I am dictating through it now with the words in brackets being those I added. I also added words to the vocabulary. And I have a fairly good class had thought [Koss headphone] that had good reviews for dictation. But it still fails to get words correct about 10% of the time, while sometimes coming up glitches and a recurring error on a new ( thank God) PC [W/ 8.1; ASRock 970 EXTREME3 mobo; AMD 6350 3.9ghz 6 core 64bit cpu; 8gb ram]. The auto punctuation does not work right either on third-party applications such as OpenOffice or Firefox.

Yet I have used it when writing at length (and probably should use it more), and it has much potential. One thing it should be able to do is configure it as easily as making hotkeys, so that you can choose your own words for custom commands. And use your own writings for voice training.

[daniel1212]

Bookmark for later. Rheumatoid arthritis here.

I feel for you, as that is more serious.

[daniel1212]

That looks interesting (and expensive), but I think the problem with me is not so much the inability to touch as it is hitting the wrong keys.

[TexasRepublic]

Voice dictation is too tedious for web surfing, so I’d stick with a keyboard. Although I have no suggestions how to overcome arthritis, I do have two suggestions that might improve your typing accuracy.

1) Consider an oversized keyboard. I Googled “large keyboard” and this is just one example:

http://www.fentek-ind.com/bigkey.htm#bigkeylx

2) Consider a standard size keyboard that has better tactile feedback. The modern, cheap keyboards have a indistinct, mushy feel. I like the old-style “clickety-click” keyboards such as IBM made 30 years ago. I tried a SIIG keyboard at a local store and just loved it. That keyboard is constructed with an aluminum base and feels hefty and solid. The keys have a crisp, quality feel. I can type better with something like that.

http://www.frys.com/product/6175039?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

[daniel1212]

Designed for Windows 98! But good for decades. Looks like a old HP one i have.

[daniel1212]

Filter Keys is an accessibility option included in Windows. What it does is makes the keyboard ignore keys which are just briefly pressed. Would that possibly solve your problem?

Not likely, As I do not press the wrong keys any less time that I press the right keys.

One thing that has helped is using the auto hotkey utility to remap the caps lock key to ctrl + c, and the escape key to ctrl+v (and Esc the becomes Num Lock). Many other things are hot keyed also in the interest of speed. Thank God for what helps.

[daniel1212]

I read a study (cannot remember where) that concluded that natural keyboards were actually not good to use. Keyboards with angled keys resulted in the user typing with his wrists angled or his elbows out.

I do not think that would be much of a problem for me much as due to my fingers being stiff and short then I cannot anchor my hands to the keyboard, but the problem might be with the division in the middle. And i usually use my left hand to hit the Y and H keys, or just one key when my hand is on the mouse, but i could adapt.

[dblshot]

Have you tried an on screen keyboard? Prpably take a little getting used to like most things but should cut down wrong/dublicate key problem to save time editing.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/type-without-keyboard#type-without-keyboard=windows-7

[daniel1212]

Thanks, but that would be even slower.

[daniel1212]

1) Consider an oversized keyboard. I Googled “large keyboard” and this is just one example:

Thanks. I did a lot of looking today, among which was this type .

But i think what i need is a kb with soft touch, fairly raised and spaced keys. Below is one that looks the best for the price, but reviews (Amazon, Newegg) do not say all i would like to know. Pray and press. Digital Innovations Easy-View Keyboard #4250400

[daniel1212]

Wanted to let you know after praying and pressing, i bought the keyboard below for $11.00 total, which was a real improvement. The keys are normal height but are spaced further apart, so I am less likely to press the key next to it (which happens because fingers do not lift up easily to hit a different one).

The keys should be softer, but they do have good spring back which some like.

Thanks for the input.

[Elsie]

That looks interesting (and expensive), but I think the problem with me is not so much the inability to touch as it is hitting the wrong keys.

Are you a touch typist?

You may have to start looking at the keyboard...

There are heated gloves available, but most of them look kinda big and bulky. think snowmobiling; not brain surgery...

[Elsie]

WHY did they put the CAPS LOCK right next to the letter “A”??

[Elsie]

WHY did they put the CAPS LOCK right next to the letter “A”??

On my old keyboards I removed the pesky thing; but this laptop is not gonna let me do THAT!

[daniel1212]

WHY did they put the CAPS LOCK right next to the letter “A”??

I forgot to add that i had already remapped the Capslock to ctrl+c (copy), and Esc to ctrl+v (paste), and Numlock to Esc. The middle mouse button is ctrl+x (cut). And since on this kb they placed Print Screen next to a normal sized BackSpace, that was remapped to BackSpace since i kept hitting the Print Screen key. I have a separate utility for screen shots. The delete key was also moved from where i was used to it, so i remapped ScrollLock to Delete.

I use AutoHotKe y to do this, adding the following to a script:

NumLock::Esc

CapsLock::^c

Esc::^v

mbutton::^x

PrintScreen::backspace

Scrolllock::delete

Ask for more, like

#+1::Run C:\Program Files (x86)\BPBible\bpbible.exe

#U::Run C:\Windows\System32\appwiz.cpl

#!W::Run C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wuapp.exe

#!C::Run control.exe

If you run any of these in the Run command (Win key + R) they should launch as well.

Bless God for His many-fold grace.

[daniel1212]

Are you a touch typist?

No, not much. See top.

[daniel1212]

Edit. what i meant by the run command was the actual address, as C:\Windows\System32\appwiz.cpl (add/remove progs).

%windir% can also be a used for C:\Windows

[Elsie]

Wow!

I’d didn’t know this feature was available!