The use of word prediction
by users who are very slow typists and / or who
have difficulty with spelling or grammar
has become commonplace in the assistive technology
field.
Likewise, synthesized
speech output with word processors or add-on
utilities sounding out letters, words and sentences
have become familiar tools.
Rate enhancement
functions such as abbreviation expansion, macros,
keyboard shortcuts and built in system functions can
be extremely useful and appear to be underutilized
on the whole.
Strategies
and ideas for users with the following
challenges:
SLOW
TYPING:
Word
prediction - look for the longer words to
increase speed
One
of the best strategies for effective word
prediction use,
is the selection of longer words from the
list! Many users of word prediction try to visually scan
for every word after typing just one or two
letters, and try to use the prediction list
for every word that is typed. If you
press one or two keys and then scan the list
for the correct word, then press another key
and look at the list again, then word
prediction has the potential of actually
slowing you down.
It is 'highly'
recommended that you learn to become selective
in how you use the word prediction
list. If you are a moderate typist
(around the 20 - 30 words per minute), then
using word prediction to select words that are
6 or more characters has the potential to
speed you up. For children or slower
typists, on the whole, selecting words that
are longer than 4 letters in length can help
with rate of typing. Selecting words
that are between 1 - 3 letters long for most
people can be a hindrance.
One
of the most effective and in many cases, highly
beneficial ways of improving typing speed is
through the use of a combination of rate
enhancement programs and strategies. You
can use one or more programs running together
to gain the benefit of each of
them.
Use
abbreviation expansion for frequently
used, longer words and
phrases.
You need to set up the abbreviations and
corresponding text, and so abbreviation
lists can be developed over time.
The more you use ab-ex, the more you'll
realize the value of it, and you'll
eventually miss using it if you need to
change computers and don't have your
programs or abbreviation lists
installed. If you type your name and
address often, or if you type technical
reports or documents with specific topics
and vocabulary, it's a good idea to take
some time initially and enter the words
with their abbreviations.
Use
word prediction for infrequently
used,
longer words
Turn
on the AutoCorrect feature and add
in any words that you know you commonly
misspell
Use
macro programs to record any
activities that you do repetitively on the
computer, such as opening a weather page
on the internet to check weather, opening
an e-mail program and sending e-mails to
specific people, changing the font
properties at multiple places in a
document.
All
of these programs can be running at the same
time. For example, using Aurora
Prediction and Active Words:
press 'Ctrl'-'space'
type in jack-em
Active words
will open your e-mail program, and start
a new e-mail addressed to Jack, with his
full address already typed in, as well
as your name and contact information at
the bottom of the e-mail.
SLOW
TYPING:
Investigate
and use program options
Every rate enhancement program
has different features and methods of
operation. The best way to determine the best
settings for your style and rate of work is to
turn features on and off and test your typing
speed on the exercises on this web site, or
other typing test method for determining words
per minute and accuracy level.
You can
often select the number of words in the option
list, the layout of the words or size and
color of words and text, the behavior of the
dialog box with list of words and many other
options. Don't just leave the program at
default settings. In most cases,
altering settings and playing around with
different features will teach you about the
program and help you find ways of making your
typing even faster.
Some of the
more commonly used programs with multiple rate
enhancement features are Co:Writer 4000,
Aurora for Windows, Gus! Word Prediction.
AutoCorrect
features with hundreds of corrections are
helpful to some degree mostly for people who
consistently spell the same words
incorrectly.
For people who
have difficulty spelling, however, the phonetic
spelling features in word prediction
programs can help tremendously in assisting
the user to find the correct word, 'hear' the
word being pronounced, finding the correct
spelling of the word and placing it in the
document in the correct place.
Talking
spell checkers also help with spelling
difficulties. A combination of speech
output, automatic spell correction and
phonetic word prediction can be a significant
part of helping users to become more effective
and confident writers.
POOR
GRAMMAR: Word prediction
and speech output
Some
word prediction programs will 'predict -ahead'
or 'predict the next word'. While
typing, words are shown based on the initial
letters typed by the user. When the word
is finished, and space pressed, the prediction
window shows words which are most likely to
follow the preceding word. Word
prediction programs take into account both
grammatical rules / most likely word sequences
as well as the users previous language and
typing / writing style. If phrases and
style of writing includes more common words
and phrases, then the 'next words' to be shown
will be those the user most often types in
sequence.
