Intellitools

Intellikeys..Clickit!...Intellipics

The Intellikeys board and access

I would like to make a realistic appraisal of the Intellikeys system and I would like say why I'm using it with pupils who have severe, profound and complex learning difficulties with additional physical impairments.

First and most importantly the intellikeys overlay board is extreemly sensitive so that people who have a very small or slight movement can successfully use it as an input device (and this sensitivity can be easily adjusted).
It is this sensitivity to touch that makes the Intellikeys board the ONLY overlay keyboard I've found to be applicable for use with our pupils.
The additional built in switch connections also allows access by switch users to the overlay keyboard which is also essential for our use.
Intellitalk is not as good a talking wordprocessor as those we commonly use.
Multimedia Concept (from the Advisory unit) is in many ways a more advanced multimedia authoring package for an overlay board than the intellikeys software. Although Overlay maker is very straight forward and intellipics has some very easy simple animation control.
The Intellikeys board is American A4, the Concept is english standard A4 (I'm still not decided on whether this is important or not but normal photocopying of intellikeys overlays won't work).
The Intellikeys board has a much better construction and finish than the concept Keyboard.
The Intellikeys board is more expensive than the concept keyboard.
The Intellikeys board operates via a keyboard connection so no special interface cards need to be installed.

What is exciting about Intellikeys is not its capabilities to deliver access to multimedia overlays, something that most of us have been able to do with the concept keyboards since the time of Touch Explorer on the BBC.
Nor the way it allows control of the keyboard using single non repeating keys, sticky keys or whole word input, something we have always been able to do.
But that it allows pupils who could not previously physically operate an overlay board access either via the board itself or by switches attached to the board.

Using the intellikeys in conjunction with Symbols 2000 (-inset January 2000)

Using Overlaymaker

Using Overlay maker to make the computer side of the overlay is very easy. Overlay maker has a simple straight forward mode which is easy to use for sending simple text to Writing with symbols. Writing with symbols then constructs the symbolic version according to its settings.
Making paper overlays using the graphics supplied is obviously easy, but they are a very american and cartoon like set of pictures.
We really want overlays using rebus or PCS from the symbols 2000 collection.
The only way of getting imported graphics and symbols into overlay maker is through the Windows clipboard (as far as I can tell). -This does seem a very laborious and extreemly primitive method.
After some playing around with the grid sizes trying getting the exact American paper size and putting our few sheets of American sized paper through the printers we further decided that it wasn't worth it.
We decided as a group that it would be easier to use Gridmaker from within Symbols 2000.
We also thought it was important to be able to use the normal photocopier to duplicate black and white overlays (duplicating at A4).
For 4,6 or 8 symbols the overlay size worked ok n the intellikeys board if it was printed out as a normal A4.

So we've decided to make our paper overlays using Gridmaker, printing onto A4, putting the paper overlays which we want to keep through the laminator and cutting them from the laminating film in American fullscap. They will have a tranparent border around them obviously, but it doesn't seem to matter with the size of overlays we use (4 or 6 cells usually) and it saves importing the symbols via the clipboard into overlaymaker (I suppose you could put the symbol library in the picture folder inside overlaymaker but I don't really fancy that with several thousand rebus) cutting and sellotaping from A4 to american fullscap -or altering the pinter paper size to American fullscap.

We have found that you have to print the overlay from gridmaker at the largest size that will fit A4 in a landscape format. This involves playing around with the grid dimensions (width and height). Different printers can print closer to the edges of the paper so I can give no hard and fast rule. If you start with making a new grid with the dimensions of full A4 size (297x210) and then reduce the numbers progressively untill the error box goes away:

This grid is too big to fit onto your choosen paper. After clicking OK please make the grid smaller from the grids menu or use Print setup to use bigger paper.

You can save these settings as a standard grid size so you only have to do this only once. You can print overlays using Rebus or PCS symbols using gridmaker, using a normal A4 printer and paper and using a normal A4 photocopier.

Using Clickit

Clickit (also from Intellitools) offers something we just could not do before, that is direct (or scanned) switch activation of any hotspot in any multimedia program running in Windows. This is something that is essential to enable switch users (especially switch users with severe or profound learning difficulties) to access the whole range of multimedia software. Clickit also integrates with the Intellikeys so that overlay board, switches and keyboard access occurs seamlessly.
It is exciting to be finally able to get direct switch, keyboard or overlay board access to, for example, the Oxford Reading Tree software so that our pupils can use the software independently (an ability that has been denied them through the design of the computer interface and the design of the software).
For me personally Clickit, which can use the intellikeys board, the keyboard or switches (and all together) to directly access any multimedia program running under windows (e.g. cd roms, the web, multimedia presentations etc.), offers the most exciting new potential for access for people with special needs

!ClickIt

ClickIt! is a program that provides mouseless access to any program that runs under Windows. You can use ClickIt! to create hot spots within a program so that you can operate that program without a mouse. ClickIt! makes point-and-click software accessible for everybody. Whether the access method is Intellikeys, the standard keyboard or switches.
You can use !ClickIt alongside overlay maker to create overlays for Intellikeys that can directly operate your software. Or you can use ClickIt! to create switch accessible scanning adaptions to your software.
You will need either the Intellikeys board or the Don Johnson PC switch interface or the switch accessible keyboard from Inclusive technology to connect switches via the keyboard

Oxford Reading tree

You can download a !ClickIt utility for the Oxford reading tree software from here. It should work with any of the books since they all have the same screen setup.
The !ClickIt file includes a !Clikit player that allows you to run (but not alter) the selection set on any Windows 95 computer.
The Hotspot set uses the Keys 1,2,3, and 4 on the Keyboard to operate the reading tree books.
Press the key 1 to speak
Key 2 to see the actions
Key 4 to speak the text on pages that have two speech buttons (the second activated after the first).
I have choosen these keys because they are a single set in the Don Johnson DJPC switch interface box. You can use 4 switches to directly access these keystrokes easily using this keyboard switch interface.
The number keys are the ones on the top of the keyboard (not the ones in the number pad).
You can also download the overlays for the intellikeys board for the Oxford reading tree to use with the Clickit script.
It uses their eye/ear/arrow graphic and when used in conjunction with the Clickit script allows overlay board access to all the reading tree software. There are two overlays one is a simple read/action/turn the other is read/action/read/turn for the pages that have two reading ears.

To download the !ClickIt Installer file for the Oxford reading tree
click here

To download the overlays for the Oxford reading tree for the intellikeys board
click here

To run it on your Windows 95 computer go to run from the start menu and type a:\setup.exe and click on OK. (or if your used to a graphical interface open up the floppy disc and double click on the setup file).
The file is zipped and you will need PKzip, Winzip or similar to decompress it.
I would appreciate any feedback:
Did it work?
Would it be better to use space/return keys for keyboard access if your not using switches with the DJPC switch interface ?

ClickIt! utility for Sanctuary woods software "Sitting on the Farm" and "The Cat came back".

These Multimedia have a similar interface so the ClickIt! adaption is another that should work for all their programs.
The keys 1 and 2 are used to read and to turn each page. Key 3 is used on some of the pages in "Sitting on the Farm" to animate the page.

To download the !ClickIt Installer file for the Sanctuary Woods multimedia click here

Clickit! utility for the "Fish who could wish" by Oxford Multimedia

This is a very interesting story with lovely illustrations. The Clickit access utility is much more complex. It still uses the keys 1 to 4 which can be made switch accessible from the Don Johnston switch interface. The fish has eight wishes so there is direct switch access to the first four wishes from the fish wishing page. The 4 switches control different activities on the same page using a key to change the access sets. Direct access the next four wishes is achieved by pressing space in the fish wish page which then branches to the second four wishes. You will need the original CDrom to make it work (but it has just been reduced in price and there is a very nice big book of the story out from Oxford Multimedia).
I have used the CDrom with a group of pupils (non readers). They chose which wish they wanted to explore from labelled switches then they explored their chosen wish using direct access mixed with supplementary switching using a Semerc mouser.We are at present adding our own pages to the story and making up our own wishes.