Blogging for Asus
Asus, the company who started the netbook craze, have decided that they want to hear more from ordinary users. They've set up a project where six people will get to blog for a month about one of a range of six laptops, ranging in size from a netbook to an equivalent of the iMac. I've long wanted to see something like this, because professional computer reviewers do a sterling job but often leave out so many of the details I'm dying to know. Some of this is quite ordinary - surely I can't be the only person who wants to know how good the speakers are - but much of it is relevant to me as a disabled person.
Why should Asus be interested in the opinions of disabled computer users, I hear you cry? Well, for starters there are an awful lot of us. I've given up trying to keep track of the estimated number of people with disabilities in the UK, mainly due to all the different definitions of “disability”, but 10-20% seems a common range. AbilityNet, a company which helps disabled adults and children use computers and the internet by adapting and adjusting their technology, tells me that the most common reason people have for seeking help is visual problems, and the second is RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury). At this point I'm going to stop and switch terminology, because I think “accessibility” is actually a more useful term right now. This isn't just about people with obvious disabilities, this issue applies to everyone. I'll wager that few people have never made some adjustment to make their computer easier to use, whether it's raising the monitor or getting a more suitable chair.
Quite apart from the 3 million people in the UK who are unable to read standard print, whether due to sight loss, dyslexia or another reading disability (source: Royal National Institute for Blind People), many people have problems with eyestrain in a world where computers are being used more and more. I rang Asus customer support the other day to ask about the new models being used for the blogging project, which unfortunately they had no information on yet. While I was there, I asked whether current EEE PC models have the same problem as the EEE PC 900 I tried briefly last year, where the default size was tiny and if you tried to set it to normal the computer went berserk. The technical support guy didn't know, but he said that he hadn't heard any complaints about that issue for a while, and there had been plenty in the early days of the EEE PC. So it's evidently a common concern.
As for RSI, I hadn't even mentally filed that as a disability, but rather as a common problem usually caused by computer use. In fact, it's so common that doctor's surgeries, furniture shops, and even workplaces routinely have prominently-displayed which advise on ergonomic computer use and how to avoid RSI and back pain, just as posters about avoiding eyestrain in opticians' are thankfully replacing those rather terrifying depictions of what will happen if you don't clean your contact lenses properly. Much of the equipment designed to make computer use more comfortable (“ergonomic” is a handy buzzword) is sold as mainstream: keyboards in all shapes and sizes, mouse mats with built in wrist rests, notebook stands that tilt the laptop for a more comfortable angle for viewing or typing. Computer accessibility is an issue which affects everyone.
I suspect that computer manufacturers and professional reviewers have mostly avoided talking about computer accessibility because they're thinking in terms of disability, erroneously assuming that there aren't enough disabled people to be worth bothering about, and anyway disability's not sexy. Curiously, disability-oriented organisations tend to go to the opposite extreme, almost always showing people with very visible disabilities and the ones that tend, unfortunately, to be regarded as unattractive at that. I suppose they're doing it to make people with disabilities feel that they're being more fairly represented as opposed to the air-brushed objectification of mainstream advertising, but it probably makes those in the retail industry even more likely to consider disability a turn-off. I'd love to see some advertising depicting someone in a wheelchair, or with another sign of disability, looking ordinary, comfortable, charismatic, intelligent, or even, dare I say it, sexy! Hopefully that day is not too far off. The BBC seems to be on a disability coverage kick at the moment, including their recent rather positive article about Cerrie Burnellwith, a children's TV presenter who was born with only one hand.
Going back to the computer needs of people who do identify as disabled, all of this becomes even more relevant when you realise that this new species, the netbook, is immensely attractive to many people with disabilities, and that netbook manufacturers are therefore ignoring a substantial potential consumer base. It's small and light, which offers a host of possibilities for bedside or wheelchair use. If you can type but not use a pen, or need to make lots of notes on the fly due to poor memory (both of which apply to me), then a netbook, particularly the quick-starting SSD versions, becomes an advanced type of personal organiser: small enough to put in a bag and take to a doctor's appointment, able to hold plenty of useful data, and far easier to input text into than those tiny PDAs which don't even have a keyboard. The price range is lower than with other computers, and many disabled folks are living on a restricted income. A netbook is far from being what everyone with a disability will need, but it's an incredibly useful addition to the range of options previously available, and I know a number of disabled people who have a netbook or are thinking of getting one. Or, like me, are holding fire until they can be sure that the netbook will really meet their needs, something it's near impossible to tell from the computer reviews currently available.
As you can tell, I'm rather excited about this project, and it's inspired me to start blogging about computer accessibility here on my LiveJournal. Expect to see posts about computers I have used, peripherals such as wireless keyboards and mice, all sorts of software, and websites. I've already started trying out new software to see what it's like generally, not just whether it will be useful for me personally, and spoken to disability organisations such as the RNIB and AbilityNet to find out which areas they think I should cover and where I could perhaps borrow some adaptive equipment. I've got good contacts in the disabled community and can ask opinions in a variety of places, as you can see I've started to do in my previous accessibility blog posts. If Asus do give me the chance to put one of their little computers through its paces, I wouldn't simply focus on the accessibility issues, of course. I'm very curious to see how a 10” or 12” laptop works for ordinary everyday use, word processing and web browsing and so on, as well as the slightly less common purposes I use a laptop for, such as quilting or music composition software. Not to mention that I'd love to have a laptop small enough that you can easily carry it into the kitchen on a whim if you want to look up or write down a recipe!
Why should Asus be interested in the opinions of disabled computer users, I hear you cry? Well, for starters there are an awful lot of us. I've given up trying to keep track of the estimated number of people with disabilities in the UK, mainly due to all the different definitions of “disability”, but 10-20% seems a common range. AbilityNet, a company which helps disabled adults and children use computers and the internet by adapting and adjusting their technology, tells me that the most common reason people have for seeking help is visual problems, and the second is RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury). At this point I'm going to stop and switch terminology, because I think “accessibility” is actually a more useful term right now. This isn't just about people with obvious disabilities, this issue applies to everyone. I'll wager that few people have never made some adjustment to make their computer easier to use, whether it's raising the monitor or getting a more suitable chair.
Quite apart from the 3 million people in the UK who are unable to read standard print, whether due to sight loss, dyslexia or another reading disability (source: Royal National Institute for Blind People), many people have problems with eyestrain in a world where computers are being used more and more. I rang Asus customer support the other day to ask about the new models being used for the blogging project, which unfortunately they had no information on yet. While I was there, I asked whether current EEE PC models have the same problem as the EEE PC 900 I tried briefly last year, where the default size was tiny and if you tried to set it to normal the computer went berserk. The technical support guy didn't know, but he said that he hadn't heard any complaints about that issue for a while, and there had been plenty in the early days of the EEE PC. So it's evidently a common concern.
As for RSI, I hadn't even mentally filed that as a disability, but rather as a common problem usually caused by computer use. In fact, it's so common that doctor's surgeries, furniture shops, and even workplaces routinely have prominently-displayed which advise on ergonomic computer use and how to avoid RSI and back pain, just as posters about avoiding eyestrain in opticians' are thankfully replacing those rather terrifying depictions of what will happen if you don't clean your contact lenses properly. Much of the equipment designed to make computer use more comfortable (“ergonomic” is a handy buzzword) is sold as mainstream: keyboards in all shapes and sizes, mouse mats with built in wrist rests, notebook stands that tilt the laptop for a more comfortable angle for viewing or typing. Computer accessibility is an issue which affects everyone.
I suspect that computer manufacturers and professional reviewers have mostly avoided talking about computer accessibility because they're thinking in terms of disability, erroneously assuming that there aren't enough disabled people to be worth bothering about, and anyway disability's not sexy. Curiously, disability-oriented organisations tend to go to the opposite extreme, almost always showing people with very visible disabilities and the ones that tend, unfortunately, to be regarded as unattractive at that. I suppose they're doing it to make people with disabilities feel that they're being more fairly represented as opposed to the air-brushed objectification of mainstream advertising, but it probably makes those in the retail industry even more likely to consider disability a turn-off. I'd love to see some advertising depicting someone in a wheelchair, or with another sign of disability, looking ordinary, comfortable, charismatic, intelligent, or even, dare I say it, sexy! Hopefully that day is not too far off. The BBC seems to be on a disability coverage kick at the moment, including their recent rather positive article about Cerrie Burnellwith, a children's TV presenter who was born with only one hand.
Going back to the computer needs of people who do identify as disabled, all of this becomes even more relevant when you realise that this new species, the netbook, is immensely attractive to many people with disabilities, and that netbook manufacturers are therefore ignoring a substantial potential consumer base. It's small and light, which offers a host of possibilities for bedside or wheelchair use. If you can type but not use a pen, or need to make lots of notes on the fly due to poor memory (both of which apply to me), then a netbook, particularly the quick-starting SSD versions, becomes an advanced type of personal organiser: small enough to put in a bag and take to a doctor's appointment, able to hold plenty of useful data, and far easier to input text into than those tiny PDAs which don't even have a keyboard. The price range is lower than with other computers, and many disabled folks are living on a restricted income. A netbook is far from being what everyone with a disability will need, but it's an incredibly useful addition to the range of options previously available, and I know a number of disabled people who have a netbook or are thinking of getting one. Or, like me, are holding fire until they can be sure that the netbook will really meet their needs, something it's near impossible to tell from the computer reviews currently available.
As you can tell, I'm rather excited about this project, and it's inspired me to start blogging about computer accessibility here on my LiveJournal. Expect to see posts about computers I have used, peripherals such as wireless keyboards and mice, all sorts of software, and websites. I've already started trying out new software to see what it's like generally, not just whether it will be useful for me personally, and spoken to disability organisations such as the RNIB and AbilityNet to find out which areas they think I should cover and where I could perhaps borrow some adaptive equipment. I've got good contacts in the disabled community and can ask opinions in a variety of places, as you can see I've started to do in my previous accessibility blog posts. If Asus do give me the chance to put one of their little computers through its paces, I wouldn't simply focus on the accessibility issues, of course. I'm very curious to see how a 10” or 12” laptop works for ordinary everyday use, word processing and web browsing and so on, as well as the slightly less common purposes I use a laptop for, such as quilting or music composition software. Not to mention that I'd love to have a laptop small enough that you can easily carry it into the kitchen on a whim if you want to look up or write down a recipe!